Creditflux Newsletter

US mobile telecoms firm Metro PCS is planning to offer $500 million in senior notes maturing in 2018 as it seeks to pay off the initial tranche of its $1.4 billion notes due to mature in 2014. The firm says it has signed up Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan as underwriters of the bond.

Independent credit research firm KDP Advisors says it views the offering as positive as it pushes out the maturity date of all the firm’s public debt beyond 2014.

The bond refinancing follows the issuer’s amend-and-extend of its term loans in July. That extension was nodded through by CLOs, which are big investors in the loans. According to CLO Master, 39% of US CLOs own the name.