On June 16, 2016, Canadian energy and services company, Emera Inc., announced the completion of concurrent offerings for $6.2 billion, which included offerings of US$3.25 billion aggregate principal amount of multiple series of Senior Notes, US$1.2 billion 6.75% Hybrid Notes and $500 million 2.900% Senior Notes. The innovative Hybrid Notes are the first of their kind to be issued by a Canadian corporation. They provide 50% equity credit for rating agency purposes, and have a deductible coupon that does not attract Canadian withholding tax.
The net proceeds from the offerings will be used to finance part of the purchase price for Emera’s pending acquisition of TECO Energy, Inc. TECO Energy is an energy company with regulated electric and gas utilities in Florida and New Mexico.
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP represented Emera with a team that included John Macfarlane, Rob Lando, Jay Greenspoon, Robert Anton, Lauren Hulme and Daniel Fombonne (Corporate Finance and Securities), Timothy Hughes and David Davachi (Tax), Laurie Barrett and Scott Cooper (Financial Services).