Prisa completed a EUR 130 million convertible bond issue to reduce the group's debt, in a context of rising interest rates.

The group indicated that during the first round of the subscription period, 76.66% of the placement was completed, and that during the second round, applications were received that exceeded the number of bonds remaining.

On Wednesday, February 1, the pro-rata allocation of the remaining convertible bonds will take place, after which the issue will be fully subscribed, Prisa, the Spanish group that publishes the daily El País, said in a statement.

The company said in January that it would use the funds to "partially cancel in advance the tranche of Prisa's syndicated financial debt that entails the highest interest expense".

This junior debt tranche amounted to 190 million euros at October 31, 2022, and is indexed to a variable interest rate of Euribor plus 8%.

According to the 2022 first-half earnings report, the group's net debt stood at €915 million.

The maturity date of the convertible securities will be five years from the date of issue of the bonds, at which time they will be mandatorily converted into new shares, although investors will be able to make the conversion voluntarily and in advance.

(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Darío Fernández)