Nokia to use $1.97 bn from Microsoft to pay off NSN financing

Finnish handset maker Nokia, which is selling its devices and services business to Microsoft, will borrow USD 1.97 billion from the US software giant to pay off loans taken to acquire the stake held by Siemens in their joint venture NSN.

In connection with the deal, Microsoft had agreed to make 1.5 billion euros of financing available to Nokia in the form of three tranches of 500 million euro (USD 658.77 million) convertible bonds.

The mobile phone maker has decided to draw down all the financing and will issue three tranches of senior unsecured convertible bonds, it said in a statement.

"Nokia intends to use the proceeds of the offering to prepay financing raised for the acquisition of the shares in NSN, which was completed in August 2013, and for general corporate purposes," the company said yesterday.

Microsoft last week agreed to acquire a major part of the devices and services business of Nokia and license its patents for about USD 7.2 billion. Nokia will keep its telecom network equipment arm NSN, mapping and location services (HERE), its CTO office and its patent portfolio.

In July, Nokia agreed to buy German engineering giant Siemens' 50 per cent stake in their mobile broadband joint venture NSN for 1.7 billion euros (USD 2.2 billion). The firm was renamed Nokia Systems and Networks (NSN).

The bonds are expected to be issued on or about September 23, Nokia said. The first tranche matures in five years and has a 1.125 per cent per annum coupon payable semi-annually with an initial conversion price of EUR 3.9338.

The second tranche of 2019 bonds has a 2.5 per cent per annum coupon payable semi-annually and an initial conversion price of EUR 4.0851.

The third tranche matures in seven years and has a 3.625 per cent per annum coupon payable semi-annually with an initial conversion price of EUR 4.2364.

Microsoft has agreed not to sell any of the bonds or convert them to Nokia shares before the sale of the devices and services business is closed, Nokia said. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014.