Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner" or "the Company")
(Nasdaq:PTNR)(TASE:PTNR), a leading Israeli communications operator,
announces today, further to the Company's Press Releases dated April
14, 2011 and May 1, 2011 and Immediate Reports on Form 6-K dated April
14, 2011 and May 2, 2011 and pursuant to the Company's Shelf Prospectus
dated September 3, 2009, as amended on May 23, 2010 and on September 20,
2010, that the Company has filed today a Shelf Offering Report (the "Offering
Report") with the Israel Securities Authority and the Tel Aviv Stock
Exchange Ltd. ("TASE").
Pursuant to the Offering Report, the Company is offering (the "Public
Offering") two series of unsecured and non-convertible notes (the
"Series D Notes" and the "Series E Notes" and collectively, the
"Notes"), which will be offered through an expansion of the Company's
Series of such Notes, which are currently outstanding and registered for
trading on TASE, as further detailed below:
(1) Series D Notes bearing a variable annual interest rate based on the
annual interest rate of short term debt issued by the State of Israel
('Makam') in addition to a fixed annual spread of 1.20%; and (2) Series
E Notes bearing an annual fixed interest rate of 5.50%.
The Series D Notes and Series E Notes were initially issued by the
Company pursuant to a shelf offering report dated April 15, 2010, as
amended on April 21, 2010. The terms of the Series D Notes and Series E
Notes, to be issued, if issued, according to the Offering Report, would
be identical to the terms of the currently outstanding Series D Notes
and Series E Notes.
The Notes will be offered in a public tender in NIS units, each in the
principal amount of NIS 1,000, at a price per unit to be determined by
tender but not less than NIS 988 per unit for the Series D Notes and not
less than NIS 996 per unit for the Series E Notes. The public tender for
all of the Notes is expected to be held on May 4, 2011.
The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Public Offering for the
Company's current needs including settling payments on, or purchasing,
the Company's Series A Notes and/or refinancing other debt.
The Notes are unsecured, do not restrict the Company's ability to issue
additional notes of any class or distribute dividends in the future, and
contain standard terms and conditions. The Notes will be listed for
trading only on the TASE.
In connection with such offering, on April 14, 2011, Standard & Poor's
Maalot announced that it "assigned its 'ilAA-' rating to additional
Series C and/or D and/or E bonds of up to NIS1.2 billion par value, to
be issued by Partner Communications Company Ltd. (ilAA-/Negative)
through an expansion of the series. The proceeds from the issuance are
designated for Partner's current needs, including settling payments on,
or purchasing, the company's Series A bonds, and/or refinancing other
debt. The rating reflects our assessment that the expansion of the bonds
in itself will not negatively influence the company's financial risk
profile, nor the rating of the existing bond series, as a significant
increase in the net financial debt beyond the company's consolidated
debt post acquisition of 012 Smile, is not anticipated." For further
information see Standard & Poor's Maalot's announcement dated April 14,
2011 on: http://www.maalot.co.il/reports/495/B14042011.pdf
or its informal English translation attached to our Form 6-K which was
furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 14, 2011.
In addition, for details regarding the rationale behind the rating of
the Company, see Standard & Poor's Maalot's rating report dated October
19, 2010, in the Standard & Poor's Maalot's announcement on: http://www.maalot.co.il/reports/495/RU19102010.pdf
or its informal English translation attached to our Form 6-K furnished
to the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 20, 2010.
The consummation of the Public Offering and its terms are subject to
market conditions. Accordingly, there is no assurance at this stage that
the Public Offering will be completed.
The public offering of the Notes shall be carried out only in Israel.
The Notes have not and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered
or sold in the United States and/or to U.S. Persons (as defined in
Regulation "S" promulgated under the Securities Act) without
registration under the Securities Act or an applicable exemption from
the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
This press release shall not be deemed to be an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Notes.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and
the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe", "anticipate", "expect",
"intend", "seek", "will", "plan", "could", "may", "project", "goal",
"target" and similar expressions often identify forward-looking
statements but are not the only way we identify these statements. All
statements other than statements of historical fact included in this
press release regarding our future performance, plans to increase
revenues or margins or preserve or expand market share in existing or
new markets, reduce expenses and any statements regarding other future
events or our future prospects, are forward-looking statements.
We have based these forward-looking statements on our current knowledge
and our present beliefs and expectations regarding possible future
events. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks,
uncertainties and assumptions about Partner, consumer habits and
preferences in cellular telephone usage, trends in the Israeli
telecommunications industry in general, the impact of current global
economic conditions and possible regulatory and legal developments. For
a description of some of the risks we face, see "Item 3D. Key
Information - Risk Factors", "Item 4. - Information on the Company",
"Item 5. - Operating and Financial Review and Prospects", "Item 8A. -
Consolidated Financial Statements and Other Financial Information -
Legal and Administrative Proceedings" and "Item 11. - Quantitative and
Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk" in the Company's 2010 Annual
Report (20-F) filed with the SEC on March 21, 2011. In light of these
risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events
discussed in this press release might not occur, and actual results may
differ materially from the results anticipated. We undertake no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Partner Communications
Partner Communications Company Ltd. ("Partner") is a leading Israeli
provider of telecommunications services (cellular, fixed-line telephony
and internet services) under the orange™ brand. The Company provides
mobile communications services to over 3 million subscribers in Israel.
Partner’s ADSs are quoted on the NASDAQ Global Select Market™ and its
shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NASDAQ and TASE: PTNR).
Partner is an approximately 45%-owned subsidiary of Scailex Corporation
Ltd. ("Scailex"). Scailex's shares are traded on the Tel Aviv Stock
Exchange under the symbol SCIX and are quoted on "Pink Quote" under the
symbol SCIXF.PK. Scailex currently operates in two major domains of
activity in addition to its holding in Partner: (1) the sole import,
distribution and maintenance of Samsung mobile handset and accessories
products primarily to the major cellular operators in Israel (2)
management of its financial assets.
For more information about Scailex, see http://www.scailex.com.
For
more information about Partner, see http://www.orange.co.il/investor_site
About 012 Smile Telecom Ltd.
012 Smile is a wholly owned subsidiary of Partner Communications which
provides international long distance services, internet services and
local telecommunication fixed-line services (including telephony
services using VOB) under the 012 Smile brand. The completion of the
purchase of 012 Smile by Partner Communications took place on March 3,
2011. For further details see the press release dated March 3, 2011. For
further details see the press release dated March 3, 2011.
