Bermuda-domiciled Digicel Ltd. has announced the completion of a $500 million corporate bond offering of senior notes due in 2017.

The bonds were sold with a coupon of 8.25 percent and priced at 98.625 to yield 8.5 percent.

The proceeds of the offering will be used to repurchase Digicel's outstanding $450 million 9.25 percent senior notes due in 2012 in a tender offer or through redemption, with any balance retained by the company for general corporate purposes.

The offering was led by Credit Suisse, with Citi and JP Morgan acting as joint book-runners on the deal.

Colm Delves, CEO of Digicel, said: "We are very pleased with the success of this refinancing of our 2012 bonds, which shows our continued disciplined approach to our debt management.

"The transaction enabled us to take advantage of the attractive interest rates available to us. As our recent results show, Digicel is generating substantial cashflow and profits. The lower coupon on our new issue reflects investors' increasing comfort with Digicel's declining risk profile.

"Even in this economic climate, with our approach to delivering best value, best network and best service, we are growing our business and continuing to drive subscriber growth in our newer markets in Panama and Honduras.

"We are making strong progress building our postpaid customer base and levels of data revenues, and new initiatives on WiMax and targeting Diaspora sales will help deliver continued out-performance."

Michael Speller of Credit Suisse, the lead book-runner of the offering, said: "Digicel has again demonstrated the level of support it has in the capital markets. The quick execution and attractive rate achieved on this deal is a testament to the demand for this offering and Digicel's strong track record."