(Bloomberg) -- Nissan (OTC:NSANY) Motor Co. kicked off the sale of its first non-convertible dollar bonds since its corporate alliance began in 1999, as the Japanese carmaker tries to boost finances after its biggest loss in two decades.
The carmaker is doing a multi-tranche deal including three-year and 10-year notes, according to people familiar with the matter. The Yokohama-based company has already received financial backing from the state-controlled Development Bank of Japan Inc., according to local media reports over the weekend, and in July priced 70 billion yen ($659 million) of notes in its home market.
Nissan, which allied with Renault (PA:RENA) SA (OTC:RNLSY) in 1999 and later also with Mitsubishi Motors (OTC:MMTOF) Corp., is cutting jobs and capacity as the pandemic hits demand, while seeking to revive an aging lineup and improve margins at the same time. For the current fiscal year through March, Nissan is forecasting a 470 billion yen operating loss.
The automaker has been mired in turmoil since the 2018 arrest of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn. The company’s ratings have also suffered and S&P Global Ratings cut Nissan’s credit score to just one level above junk in July.
The three-year notes are being marketed at an initial price guidance of about 325 basis points over Treasuries, and 10-year bond at 437.5 to 450 basis points, according to the people. The benchmark-sized deal also includes five-year and seven-year securities.
Nissan’s mandate to banks earlier in the week included possible sales of euro-denominated bonds as well.
(Updates with details of bond sale in second paragraph)
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