Vivendi banks $1.4B from bond sale

In January, Reuters reported Vivendi had secured a loan for €3.5 billion (about $5.5 billion) underwritten by several banks, with €2 billion (about $3.1 billion) being dispersed over a timed interval and the remainder being applied to an unrelated purchase of an Internet service provider. According to Reuters, the loan would supplement various other lines of credit Vivendi had acquired which have totaled nearly €4 billion (about $6.2 billion).

To further bankroll the merger, Vivendi announced today it would be selling $1.4 billion worth of corporate bonds to various banks, which will be applied to the Activision Blizzard merger as well as the acquisition of French telecom Neuf Cegetel.

In its statement, Vivendi said that the objective of issuing the notes is to "rebalance its debt structure between bank debt and bond debt and to lengthen its average maturity." The media conglomerate also noted that the bond issuance would act as a substitute for drawing further from its banking credit lines, which Vivendi called "already largely sufficient to ensure the financing of these transactions."