Japanese supermarket chain AEON has said that it will issue two batches of 50-year subordinate hybrid bonds worth a total of JPY31bn (US$264m). The capital raised will partially be used to repay loans taken out to fund the acquisition of property developer Diamond City Co, which was completed earlier this year, the company said.
According to Aeon, it will become the first non-financial Japanese company to issue subordinate hybrid securities, which have both debt and equity characteristics, on the domestic market.
The bonds, which will be allotted to institutional investors, will be issued on 29 September and will mature on 29 September 2056. The first batch, worth JPY4.5bn, will carry a 3.25% coupon for ten years. Thereafter the coupon will be set at the same level as t six-month euroyen London Interbank rate, plus a 2.4% premium. The second batch, worth JPY26.5bn, will be set at the six-month euroyean LIBOR level plus a 1.4% premium for ten years. Thereafter the premium increases to 1.4%.
Under the issuance, Aeon can defer coupon payments for ten years if its consolidated debt ratio tops 65% for a full year or if it fails to pay dividends on its common stock.
