BRUSSELS (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal (MT.AS), the world’s largest steelmaker, is issuing $2 billion of shares and convertible notes at a deep discount to accelerate debt reduction plans that have been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company said on Tuesday it will sell $750 million of shares at a price of $9.27, equivalent to 8.57 euros. That is near to their value at Monday’s close, when ArcelorMittal had said it would issue new shares, but some 17% down from Friday.
On Tuesday, the shares were trading 4.6% lower on the day at 8.23 euros at 0800 GMT, making them the worst performers in the FTSEurofirst300 index .FTEU3 of leading European shares.
ArcelorMittal will also issue $1.25 billion of mandatory convertible notes with a maturity of three years and paying an annual coupon on 5.5%. The conversion price will be between $9.27 and $10.89.
The share and convertibles issue is designed to accelerate the reduction of ArcelorMittal’s net debt towards $7 billion. In February, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it had said it wanted to reach this target by the end of 2020.
The company’s net debt stood at $9.5 billion at the end of March, up from $9.3 billion at the end of December.
