Japan’s NTT weighs up to $19 billion bond offering for Docomo acquisition

Japan’s Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) is considering bond offerings of up to $19 billion in Japan and overseas to refinance loans for the $40 billion acquisition of its wireless carrier business, the chief executive said.

The telecoms firm has recently completed Japan’s largest-ever tender offer for the 34% of NTT Docomo Inc stock that it did not own.

It funded the acquisition through bridge loans totalling 4.3 trillion yen ($41.2 billion) from Japan’s biggest three banks and others, and has said it would refinance part of the loans with long-term bonds.

“It is ideal to borrow up to 2 trillion yen ($19.2 billion),” NTT Chief Executive Jun Sawada told Reuters in an interview.