Announcement
Piltel redeems all outstanding unrestructured bonds
[April 16, 2007] - Please be advised that on 5th April 2007, Pilipino Telephone Corporation (“Piltel”) had finally redeemed all of its outstanding unrestructured bonds. Piltel pro-actively and successfully sought out holders and offered to purchase their remaining outstanding unrestructed bonds. That repurchase program was completed on April 5, 2007.
The company has received confirmation from Euroclear and Clearstream, the European bond clearing houses, that Piltel’s outstanding unrestructured bonds amounting to US$190,000 and US$500,000, respectively, have been fully redeemed. These unrestructured bonds were part of the convertible bonds originally issued on July 17, 1996 by Piltel International Holdings Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Piltel, and guaranteed by Piltel at a face value of US$183 million. From June 2001 to March 2004, holders of these convertible bonds agreed to participate in the Company’s debt restructuring plan until such time that only US$690,000 of the original notes remained unrestructured and unpaid.
In line with the Company’s goal to strengthen its balance sheet after the significant improvement in its operations, Piltel embarked on an aggressive debt prepayment program which culminated in the complete repayment of its restructured debt in December 2006. With this final redemption, Piltel has brought to a close its historic debt restructuring plan. Piltel now has no outstanding borrowings.