Videotron Ltd. Prices Private Offering of US$500 Million Senior Notes due 2029 and C$750 Million Senior Notes due 2028
Videotron Ltd. (“Videotron”) today announced the pricing of its issuance of US$500 million aggregate principal amount of 3.625% Senior Notes due 2029 (the “US$ Notes”) and C$750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.625% Senior Notes due 2028 (the “C$ Notes” and, together with the US$ Notes, the “notes”). The notes will be sold at par. The US$ Notes will carry a coupon of 3.625% and will mature on June 15, 2029, and the C$ Notes will carry a coupon of 3.625% and will mature on June 15, 2028. Videotron intends to use the net proceeds of this offering to repay the amounts outstanding under its senior credit facility, which is expected to be drawn to finance the price of the redemption and retirement of the entire US$800 million outstanding principal amount of Videotron’s 5% Senior Notes due 2022, and for general corporate purposes.
The offering is anticipated to close in June 2021 and the redemption of the 5% Senior Notes due 2022 is expected to be completed in July 2021.
The securities mentioned herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 or applicable state securities laws, and the notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. The notes have not been and will not be qualified for sale to the public under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the notes in Canada will be made on a basis which is exempt from the prospectus and dealer registration requirements of such securities laws.
This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Videotron (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in television, entertainment, Internet access, wireline telephone and mobile telephone services. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its Helix home entertainment and management platform. As of March 31, 2021, Videotron was serving 1,459,100 cable television customers and 477,900 subscribers to its Club illico video streaming service. Videotron is also the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,807,400 subscribers as of March 31, 2021. As of the same date, Videotron had 1,503,200 subscriber connections to its mobile telephony service and was providing wireline telephony service to 897,700 Québec households and organizations. Videotron has been recognized as one of Montréal’s top employers.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of United States federal securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release, including statements regarding the prospects of our industry and our prospects, plans, financial position and business strategy, may constitute forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industries in which we operate as well as beliefs and assumptions made by our management. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, prospects, financial position and business strategies. Words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “continue,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “foresee,” “believe,” or “seek,” or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements, by their nature, involve risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements are also subject to assumptions concerning, among other things: our anticipated business strategies; anticipated trends in our business; anticipated reorganizations of any of our segments or businesses, and any related restructuring provisions or impairment charges; and our ability to continue to control costs. We can give no assurance that these estimates and expectations will prove to have been correct. Actual outcomes and results may, and often do, differ from what is expressed, implied or projected in such forward-looking statements, and such differences may be material. Some important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: our ability to successfully continue developing our network and facilities-based mobile services; general economic, financial or market conditions and variations in our businesses; the intensity of competitive activity in the industries in which we operate; new technologies that might change consumer behaviour toward our product suite; unanticipated higher capital spending required to develop our network or to address the continued development of competitive alternative technologies, or the inability to obtain additional capital to continue the development of our business; our ability to implement successfully our business and operating strategies and manage our growth and expansion; disruptions to the network through which we provide our digital television, Internet access, mobile and wireline telephony and Club illico services, and our ability to protect such services from piracy, unauthorized access or other security breaches; labour disputes or strikes; interruptions resulting from equipment breakdown, network failure, the threat of natural disaster, epidemics, pandemics and other health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and political instability in some countries; the impact of emergency measures implemented by various levels of government; changes in our ability to obtain services and equipment critical to our operations; changes in laws and regulations, or in their interpretations, which could result, among other things, in the loss (or reduction in value) of our licenses or markets or in an increase in competition, compliance costs or capital expenditures; our substantial indebtedness, the tightening of credit markets, and the restrictions on our business imposed by the terms of our debt; and interest rate fluctuations that affect a portion of our interest payment requirements on long-term debt. We caution you that the above list of cautionary statements is not exhaustive. These and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, and you are encouraged to read “Item 3. Key Information – Risk Factors” as well as statements located elsewhere in Videotron's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 for further details and descriptions of these and other factors. Each of these forward-looking statements speaks only as of the date of this press release. We will not update these statements unless applicable securities laws require us to do so.