Montréal, February 27, 2017 –METRO INC. today announced the closing of a private placement offering of C$400 million aggregate principal amount of Series E floating rate senior unsecured notes due February 27, 2020 (the “Notes”).
The Notes are being offered through an agency syndicate consisting of BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., National Bank Financial Inc. and TD Securities Inc. as co-lead managers and co-bookrunners, together with CIBC World Markets Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and Scotia Capital Inc. as co-managers.
The Notes will be issued at par and will bear interest at a rate equal to the 3-month bankers’ acceptance rate (CDOR) plus 57 basis points (or 0.57%), to be set quarterly commencing on the day of closing.
Metro intends to use the net proceeds for the repayment of indebtedness outstanding under its main credit facility and for general corporate purposes.
The Notes are direct unsecured obligations of Metro and rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Metro.
The Notes are being offered in Canada on a private placement basis in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus requirements under applicable securities legislation and are rated BBB, with a stable trend, by DBRS Limited and BBB by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered, sold or delivered in the United States of America or its territories or possessions or to U.S. persons except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption therefrom. The information in this press release is not complete and may be changed. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Notes in the United States.
Metro Inc.
With annual sales of over $12 billion and over 65,000 employees, METRO INC. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical distribution in Quebec and Ontario, where it operates a network of more than 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management’s expectations related to expected future events and financial results and operating results. This forward-looking information typically contains the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “intend”, “expect”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “potential”, “plan”, “project” or other similar terms. These forward-looking statements are not facts, but only reflections of management’s estimates and expectations. Although Metro believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations as set forth in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including market and general economic conditions and the risks and uncertainties discussed in the “Risk Management” section of the 2016 Annual Report filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities.
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François Thibault
Executive Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
(514) 643-1003