Vodafone Ukraine raises tender offer price for eurobond buyback to 98% of face value for 6th time
Vodafone Ukraine LLC (VFU), the country’s second-largest mobile operator, which has repurchased nearly $7 million of its eurobonds since late May in connection with dividend payments, has again raised its tender offer price, for the sixth time, to 98% of face value, up from 96% two weeks earlier, 95% four weeks earlier, and 85% in its initial offer announced on August 13.
According to a company statement published on the Irish Stock Exchange, the maximum buyback amount has been increased by $2.9 million to $9.691 million.
The offer deadline has been extended from October 23 to November 6, with settlement now expected around November 13.
In its first two tenders, Vodafone Ukraine repurchased bonds equivalent to EUR 1 million. The debut tender was priced at 99% of face value, and the second at 90%. The company did not disclose results for the second tender, while the scaling factor for the first tender was 0.0040355668.
In the third tender, the buyback price was reduced to 85% of face value with a limit of $4.67 million. Vodafone Ukraine received bids totaling $53.395 million and accepted $5.208 million, resulting in a scaling factor of 0.1315451889487317.
The bonds, maturing in February 2027 with a 9.625% annual coupon, were originally issued for $300 million. After canceling the repurchased securities, the total nominal value of bonds outstanding stands at $292.532 million.
The eurobond buyback is linked to Vodafone Ukraine’s April 24, 2025 announcement of dividend payments to its shareholder totaling UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate cited in the release) for 2024. Under National Bank of Ukraine restrictions, dividends are being paid in monthly installments, each equivalent to EUR 1 million.
Under the bond terms, when dividends are paid abroad, the company must offer all bondholders the opportunity to sell back bonds equal in value to the dividends paid. To date, six monthly dividend payments have been made, each roughly equivalent to EUR 1 million.
As reported, in the first half of 2025, VFU’s net profit fell by 13% year-on-year to UAH 1.705 billion, while revenue rose 15% to UAH 13.518 billion.