SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 28 (SeeNews) – Bulgaria’s financial watchdog on Thursday approved a 21.878 million levs ($16.5 million/11.2 million euro) convertible bond issue of local blue-chip company Industrial Holding Bulgaria.
The three-year convertible bonds will have a par value equal to the issue price of 100 levs each and an annual interest rate of 8.0% with coupon payments due semi-annually.
Industrial Holding Bulgaria said last month it plans to back up the development of its shipbuilding business with a fixed-rate bond issue of up to 22 million levs bearing an annual interest rate of up to 8.75%. The minimum subscription target is half of the issue, the company added.
Industrial Holding Bulgaria, set up in 1996 as a privatisation fund under the country's voucher privatisation programme, was transformed into a holding structure in 1998. Its investment portfolio, which includes stakes in more than 20 companies, is focused on shipbuilding and machine building. The holding company owns 61.5% of the privately held Bulyard consortium, which in turn owns the Varna Shipyard, Bulgaria's biggest.
Shares in Industrial Holding Bulgaria, part of the SOFIX blue-chip index of the Sofia bourse, were last traded at 6.17 levs at 1045 GMT on Thursday, up 2.8% from the previous close. The statement was released shortly before the end of the bourse trading.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)