Medical Properties Prices Senior Unsecured Note Offering

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. MPW also known as MPT recently priced its unsecured senior sterling-denominated notes offering. The notes will be issued by MPT’s operating partnership, MPT Operating Partnership, L.P. and MPT Finance Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the operating partnership.

Subject to customary closing norms, the offering is anticipated to close on Dec 5, 2019.

The notes will be issued in specifically two tranches with maturity date of Dec 5, 2023 and Jun 5, 2028 each. The 2023 obligations have been priced with a coupon rate of 2.550%. Interest on the notes will be paid annually in arrears starting Dec 5, 2020.  Moreover, the 2028 notes are priced with coupon rate of 3.692% and an annual interest will be paid in arrears from Jun 5, 2020 onward.

The company anticipates raising net proceeds of £993 million ($1.22 billion) from this offering. It will use £367.0 million ($0.5 billion) of the proceeds to pay down outstanding balance under the revolving credit facility. Remaining net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes including working capital, capital expenditures and for future acquisition pursuits.

MPT’s efforts to tap the debt market amid low interest-rate environment are a strategic fit. Further, since unsecured notes can be borrowed at lower rates, the new debt will lead to lower funding cost.

Moreover, by paying down its debt obligations, this offering is likely to provide the company with financial flexibility. Additionally, this move to pay back debt with proceeds from note offering reflects MPT’s focus on addressing its financial obligations efficiently.

Of late, MPT prudently accessed both debt and equity capital markets to raise funds. In fact, earlier this month, the company announced a public offering of 50 million shares of its common stock at $18.5 per share. It also granted underwriters a 30-day option to buy additional 7.5 million shares of its common stock. It expects to raise net proceeds of roughly $892 million, or $1 billion if the underwriters’ fully-exercise their option to purchase additional shares.

Such a financing strategy establishes a more conservative and balanced capital sourcing policy and will likely contribute to strengthening of the company’s balance sheet.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 8.7%, outperforming the industry’s growth of 0.1%, over the past three months. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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