Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has priced its offering of $1 billion aggregate principal amount of three-year and five-year senior notes, which will be senior unsecured obligations of the company.
* The $500 million of three-year notes will be sold at 99% of the principal amount and will bear interest at the six-month London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, plus 375 basis points.
* The $500 million of five-year notes will be sold at par and will bear interest at a rate of 8-5/8%.
Goodyear announced its intention to offer the notes on Nov. 16. Goodyear says it intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay at maturity $515 million principal amount of its existing notes due Dec. 1, 2006, and March 1, 2007.
The company will use the remaining cash "for general corporate purposes, which may include addressing the continuing strike by the United Steelworkers union."
The notes, when offered, will be offered in a private placement under Rule 144A, have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.
