Maersk funds war chest through euro corporate bond sale

REFINANCING through a euro bond sale is Denmark`s AP Moller-Maersk`s latest device to raise money to pay debt and fund acquisitions.
"Corporate bonds are increasingly being used as an additional funding source for large European corporates, and in the light of that development it is only natural that we look at the funding opportunities in the European capital markets," said Maersk`s finance chief Jan Kjaervik.
The group did not give the size, the coupon or the maturity of the unrated eurobonds, but would provide further details when the sale ends, Mr Kjaervik told Bloomberg.
The group has previously said it would avail itself of all opportunities in the bond market to raise funds. "The issuance of bonds will be AP Moller-Maersk`s first in the international capital markets," it said in a statement.
"The issuance is expected to be a benchmark transaction in terms of volume," Maersk said. Proceeds will be used for general purposes and repayment of funds drawn on revolving bank facilities, it said.
Danske Bank A/S, HSBC Bank Plc, ING Bank, JP Morgan Securities Ltd and Nordea Bank AB are placing the bonds, seven weeks after Maersk sold new shares to raise US$1.7 billion, the biggest such auction in its 105-year history.
Maersk CEO Nils Andersen has said he wants as much independence from banks as possible while he still seeks to buy rival companies and make investments for the oil and terminals businesses, though he expressed no interest in expanding further in the troubled container business