ArcelorMittal: Steelmaker sells bonds in Swiss francs

ARCELORMITTAL is selling its first bonds in Swiss francs as the world’s biggest steelmaker takes advantage of negative borrowing costs in Switzerland. The company is marketing at least 200 million francs (R2.6 billion) of securities maturing in five years, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because they are not authorised to speak publicly. It originally offered 150m francs of debt with a coupon of about 2.5 percent, a separate person said. ArcelorMittal is capitalising on investor demand for riskier assets after yields on Swiss government bonds due in three-to-five years turned negative in November. Apple raised 1.25bn francs in its first bond sale in the currency in February, lured by average yields that fell to a record-low minus 1.05 percent on January 23. They were at minus 0.65 percent on Wednesday, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Officials at Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal could not immediately be reached for comment on the sale. The world’s fifth-largest iron-ore producer sold its first dollar bonds since 2012 in May to repay existing debt. – Bloomberg