The bond prospectus was lodged with the New Zealand stock exchange yesterday and APN began its four-city week-long investor and brokers roadshow in Dunedin yesterday, attended by about 20 people.
APN is offering $150 million in five-year unsecured bonds, with a further $50 million allowed for oversubscription, offering yet-to-be set interest rates of between 7.3% to 7.8 %, which will trade on the NZX debt exchange.
Chief executive Brendan Hopkins emphasised APN was not increasing debt but seeking to raise the bonds to diversify away from banking facilities, saying the up to $200 million would be used for general financing purposes; acquisitions were not being considered.
APN's New Zealand stable of media outlets includes The New Zealand Herald, Herald on Sunday, seven regional daily newspapers, a large number of magazines including the Listener, 129 radio stations plus hundreds of nation-wide billboards and numerous online sites.
Since 2008, APN had reduced net debt by $207.2 million to $697.3 million, had recently completed banking facility extensions of $A600 billion, had $A1 billion of committed facilities in place and $A300 million undrawn.
In an overview of APN's growth strategy, Mr Hopkins said APN was stepping up use of its large data bases so advertisers could in a, "one stop shop" environment, access all its newspaper, online digital, magazines, radio and billboard platforms.
"We've successfully managed our way through the global financial crisis with our focus now on organic growth, new products and accretive acquisition," Mr Hopkins said.
Growth for APN was back into double-digits with major Australian markets returning to pre-global financial crisis levels.
While the New Zealand economic recovery was under way, it was still "early days and less consistent", compared with Australia.
APN has a portfolio of online outlets, including some joint-ventures, which include Sella, GrabOne, Domain, MyCareer and Finda, with applications for computer, iPad and mobiles.
