Chesnara prices £150m of convertible notes

(Sharecast News) - Chesnara announced the successful pricing of £150m of fixed rate reset perpetual restricted tier one contingent convertible notes on Wednesday, as the life insurance consolidator looked to bolster its financial flexibility and pursue further acquisition opportunities. The London-listed firm said the notes, which would be issued on 1 August subject to customary conditions, carried an initial coupon of 8.5% until the first reset date.

It said the earliest call date was 1 August 2030.

Chesnara said the proceeds would be used for general corporate purposes, including investments and acquisitions.

The securities were expected to be listed on the Official List of Euronext Dublin and admitted to trading on its Global Exchange Market.

Fitch Ratings had assigned a BBB- rating to the notes with a stable outlook.

"At the time of the announcement of our proposed acquisition of HSBC Life UK, we stated that we continued to actively assess ways to optimise our financing options, including the issuance of restricted tier one instruments," said chief executive Steve Murray.

"Following the success of our recent £140m rights issue as part of the financing package for the HSBC Life UK transaction, we are delighted with the continued support from investors as we seek to ensure we maintain financial flexibility to pursue future acquisitions.

"We continue to see a positive pipeline of merger and acquisition opportunities."

At 1337 BST, shares in Chesnara were down 0.42% at 262.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.