Brussels, 2 October 2015 – Euronext Brussels today welcomed the listing of an institutional bond issue by Proximus, the largest telecommunication group in Belgium. To celebrate the new listing, Sandrine Dufour, Chief Financial Officer of Proximus, rang the bell to open trading on Euronext’s markets.
The 10-year Proximus institutional bonds are admitted to listing on Euronext Brussels with a total issued amount of €500 million. The issue was very well received with an order book in excess of €2.2 billion (more than four times oversubscribed) and was placed with more than 125 European institutional investors. The coupon stands at 1.875%, and is the lowest coupon ever paid by Proximus. The operation was jointly conducted by BNP Paribas, ING Bank, J.P. Morgan, Crédit Agricole CIB and Lloyds Bank.
Formerly known as Belgacom, Proximus is a telecommunications company operating in the Belgian and international markets. With brands such as Proximus, Skynet, Scarlet and Telindus, Proximus Group is the leading national provider of telephony, internet, television and network-based ICT services.
Sandrine Dufour, Chief Financial Officer at Proximus: “As bond financing is an important funding source for Proximus and our bonds are bought by a diversified group of institutional investors, we believe that listing on Euronext Brussels is important and contributes to the promotion of Belgium as a financing centre for corporates. Proximus envisages to regularly rely on the bond market to raise funds on the capital markets at favourable conditions.”
“Proximus joined Euronext more than ten years ago for the largest IPO on the Belgian market,” declared Vincent Van Dessel, CEO of Euronext Brussels. “We are pleased that Proximus has chosen Euronext to list these 500€ million Fixed Rate Notes. With over 4,900 bonds listed on our European markets, Euronext is the natural place for issuers with forward-looking strategies and ambitious funding objectives. This listing will help to increase the visibility and liquidity of these bonds.”
Alain Baetens, Head of Listings of Euronext Brussels: “Euronext is pleased to announce a new milestone in its partnership with Proximus through the listing of this benchmark issuance under the €3.5 bn EMTN programme. Together with all relevant stakeholders, including the FSMA as regulator, intermediary parties as investment banks and law firms and other key members of our bond task force, Euronext has built a competitive, transparent, secure and cost efficient bond listing process, ensuring issuers to benefit from liquidity enhancing services. Euronext’s trading platform has become in the meantime the listing venue of reference for the major blue chips.”