RCS&RDS, caught in a wave of $7bn bond issue delays

RCS&RDS’ delayed issue of $200m worth of bonds, the
company’s second failed attempt to raise foreign market funding,
does not come as a surprise, as companies’ decisions to delay or
cancel bonds have hit the highest level in the past two years and a
half amid investors’ ever rising demands related to yields, shows a
Bloomberg survey. The high interest investors asked RCS&RDS
was, according to some banking sources, the reason why the Romanian
company postponed its bid to secure financing. RCS&RDS, one of
the biggest telecom operators in the region, with $78m operating
income and $518m revenues in the first nine months of 2009, needs
money to finance its investments and pay its debts, according to
Standard & Poor’s rating agency. RCS&RDS in 2007 took out a
$500m loan from ING and Citi after giving up floatation on the
London Stock Exchange.