Skip to main content

AI assistant

Sign in to chat with this filing

The assistant answers questions, extracts KPIs, and summarises risk factors directly from the filing text.

WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED Capital/Financing Update 2011

Nov 23, 2011

66075_rns_2011-11-23_8ce5687c-1f86-4993-a828-242cb7e070ba.pdf

Capital/Financing Update

Open in viewer

Opens in your device viewer

==> picture [440 x 55] intentionally omitted <==

24 November 2011

The Manager Companies Australian Securities Exchange Company Announcements Office Level 4, 20 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000

Dear Sir,

WOOLWORTHS CLOSES THE WOOLWORTHS NOTES II OFFER

Woolworths today announced that it has successfully completed its offer of dated, unsecured, subordinated, cumulative notes at $100 each ( Woolworths Notes II or Notes ) raising $700,248,300.

Through the Offer, 7,002,483 Notes have been issued at an issue price of $100 per Note. The issue size of $700,248,300 forms part of Woolworths’ capital management strategy with the proceeds being used for general corporate purposes.

Allocation policy

Woolworths has scaled back allocations to ensure that all Eligible Shareholder Applicants receive an allocation of Notes either through the Woolworths Shareholder Offer or the Broker Firm Offer.

Eligible Woolworths Shareholder applicants that were not identified as receiving an allocation under the Broker Firm Offer have received an allocation of 21 Notes. If they were identified as receiving an allocation under the Broker Firm Offer, their application under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer has not been accepted.

Woolworths Shareholder Offer Applicants can obtain information about their allocation of Notes by calling the Woolworths Notes II Offer Information Line on the numbers provided at the end of this announcement.

A scale-back was applied to applicants under the Broker Firm Offer and Institutional Offer. Applicants under the Broker Firm Offer should confirm their allocation of Notes with their Syndicate Broker. Successful Institutional Investors under the Institutional Offer have been individually advised of their allocation of Notes by J.P. Morgan and UBS.

If you received less than your desired allocation of Notes, additional Notes may be purchased on ASX following their commencement of trading on 25 November 2011. Investors are reminded there are risks associated with a purchase of Notes on ASX and are encouraged to seek professional guidance from an independent and qualified professional adviser before deciding to purchase Notes on ASX.

Further, applications under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer that:

==> picture [427 x 44] intentionally omitted <==

  • were accompanied by cheques that were subsequently dishonoured and online Applications, for which BPAY payments were not received; or

  • were stated to be from nominees on behalf of persons located outside Australia,

have not received an allocation under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer.

Trading on ASX

Notes are expected to commence trading tomorrow on the Australian Securities Exchange ( ASX ) on a deferred settlement basis under the ASX code of “WOWHC”.

All Applicants are responsible for confirming the number of Notes allocated to them prior to selling any Notes. Applicants who sell Notes before receiving their Holding Statement or CHESS confirmation do so at their own risk (even if they obtained information on their allotment from the Woolworths Notes II Offer Information Line).

Trading on a normal settlement basis is expected to commence on Wednesday, 30 November 2011.

Holding statements and refund cheques

Holding Statements stating the number of Notes issued to each successful Applicant are expected to be despatched by Monday, 28 November 2011. Any refunds are also expected to be despatched by this date. Woolworths has further determined that accrued net interest on application monies received by it under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer will be paid to Eligible Shareholder Applicants together with the refund of their application monies. Interest will be calculated on cleared application monies at an effective rate of 4.275% per annum (which is net of any fees charged to the account by the financial institution), for the period in which application monies (in cleared funds) were held in the Offer account until 27 November 2011 (in the case of refunded application monies) and 23 November 2011 (in the case of accepted application monies).

Interest Rate

The Interest Rate for each Note for the first Interest Period ending on 24 February 2012 is 7.8517% per annum. This has been determined in accordance with the Notes Terms as the Bank Bill Rate on 24 November 2011 (being the Issue Date) of 4.6017% plus the Margin of 3.25% per annum.

Following the first Interest Period, the Interest Rate for the Notes will be set quarterly.

Holders of Notes

Following allocation of Notes pursuant to the Offer, the twenty largest holders of Notes and the number and percentage of Notes held by those holders are detailed in Attachment A to this announcement.

The distribution schedule of Notes is set out in Attachment B to this announcement.

Newspaper advertisements

Tomorrow Woolworths will advertise in The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the close of the Offer, the Issue Price of each Note and the basis of allocation of Notes. A copy of this advertisement is attached to this announcement.

2

To obtain information about your allocation of Notes or about the Offer

Woolworths Shareholder Offer Applicants and General Offer Applicants can obtain information about their allocation of Notes or the Offer by calling the Woolworths Notes II Offer Information Line on 1300 660 837 or +61 3 9415 4249 (Monday to Friday – 8:30am to 5:30pm AEDT[1] ).

Unless otherwise defined, capitalised terms in this release have the same meaning given to them in the Notes Replacement Prospectus dated 26 October 2011.

For and on behalf of

WOOLWORTHS LIMITED

==> picture [108 x 41] intentionally omitted <==

PETER J HORTON Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

[ATTACHMENT A – 20 LARGEST HOLDERS]

[ATTACHMENT B – DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE]

[ATTACHMENT C – NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT]

1 Australian Eastern Daylight Time

3

CRS/COMPUTERSHARE INVESTOR SERVICES PTY LTD  ***    S P R E A D   O F   N O T E S   I I     ***                (RSP510:12.46:241111)
  WOOLWORTHS LIMITED/WOW                              RUN NUMBER 5200       24/11/2011           A.C.N. 000 014 675    PAGE :      1
                       1        1001        5001       10001      100001                                       * TOTAL *
                      to          to          to          to          to
                    1000        5000       10000      100000       (MAX)
*G0                /WOOLWORTHS NOTES II
   Holders
      Issuer        3696          93           9           4                                                        3802
      Chess        16124         310          26          25          11                                           16496
      Total        19820         403          35          29          11                                           20298
   Units
      Issuer      382595      208394       67135       59855                                                      717979
      Chess      2117915      644427      195932      761774     2564456                                         6284504
      Total      2500510      852821      263067      821629     2564456                                         7002483
TOTAL HOLDERS FOR CLASSES SELECTED                                                       20298
TOTAL UNITS    "    "         "                                                        7002483
CRS/COMPUTERSHARE INVESTOR SERVICES PTY LTD  ***      T O P     2 0     H O L D E R S       ***                (RSP520:12.46:241111)
  WOOLWORTHS LIMITED/WOW                              RUN NUMBER 5200       24/11/2011           A.C.N. 000 014 675    PAGE :      1
  CLASS GROUP: *G0/WOOLWORTHS NOTES II
  HOLDER NO     NAME AND ADDRESS                                           UNITS       % I/C      RANK
                UBS WEALTH MANAGEMENT                                       469,366     6.70         1
                AUSTRALIA NOMINEES PTY LTD
                J P MORGAN NOMINEES AUSTRALIA                               431,792     6.17         2
                LIMITED
                NATIONAL NOMINEES LIMITED                                   350,260     5.00         3
                CITICORP NOMINEES PTY LIMITED                               344,242     4.92         4
                COGENT NOMINEES PTY LIMITED                                 183,000     2.61         5
                <SMP ACCOUNTS>
                WARBONT NOMINEES PTY LTD                                    179,800     2.57         6
                <SETTLEMENT ENTREPOT A/C>
                NETSHARE NOMINEES PTY LTD                                   143,590     2.05         7
                QUESTOR FINANCIAL SERVICES                                  139,000     1.99         8
                LIMITED
                <TPS RF A/C>
                HSBC CUSTODY NOMINEES                                       113,816     1.63         9
                (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED
                UBS NOMINEES PTY LTD                                        108,650     1.55        10
                AVANTEOS INVESTMENTS LIMITED                                100,940     1.44        11
                <UTILITY A/C>
                NAVIGATOR AUSTRALIA LTD                                      90,471     1.29        12
                <NAVIGATOR PERS PLAN SETT A/C>
                CITICORP NOMINEES PTY LIMITED                                79,500     1.14        13
                <COLONIAL FIRST STATE INV A/C>
                JP MORGAN NOMINEES AUSTRALIA                                 66,200     0.95        14
                LIMITED
                <CASH INCOME A/C>
                AUSTRALIAN MASTERS YIELD FUND                                50,000     0.71        15
                NO 1 LIMTED
                NETWEALTH INVESTMENTS LIMITED                                48,150     0.69        16
                <WRAP SERVICES A/C>
                COGENT NOMINEES PTY LIMITED                                  45,000     0.64        17
                AUSTRALIAN MASTERS YIELD FUND                                43,500     0.62        18
                NO 2 LIMITED
CRS/COMPUTERSHARE INVESTOR SERVICES PTY LTD  ***      T O P     2 0     H O L D E R S       ***                (RSP520:12.46:241111)
  WOOLWORTHS LIMITED/WOW                              RUN NUMBER 5200       24/11/2011           A.C.N. 000 014 675    PAGE :      2
  CLASS GROUP: *G0/WOOLWORTHS NOTES II
  HOLDER NO     NAME AND ADDRESS                                           UNITS       % I/C      RANK
                NULIS NOMINEES (AUSTRALIA)                                   32,600     0.47        19
                LIMITED
                <NAVIGATOR MAST PLAN SETT A/C>
                PENSON AUSTRALIA NOMINEES PTY                                31,461     0.45        20
                LTD
                <ACCUM A/C>
                ***  REPORT  TOTAL  ***                                   3,051,338    43.58
                ***    REMAINDER   ***                                    3,951,145    56.42
                                                                     -----------------------
                ***  GRAND  TOTAL  ***                                    7,002,483   100.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL CURRENT HOLDERS MEETING CRITERIA FOR THIS REPORT:    20298
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Important notice to all applicants under the Woolworths Notes II Offer

Woolworths Limited ABN 88 000 014 675 (Woolworths) is pleased to announce that the offer of Woolworths Notes II (Notes) successfully closed on 23 November 2011. 7,000,000 Notes were issued on 24 November 2011 at an issue price of $100 per Note, raising a total of $700 million.

Allocation of Notes

As a result of the large number of applications received under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer, it has not been possible to allocate to all Eligible Woolworths Shareholder applicants the full amount of Notes that were applied for. Woolworths has scaled back applications under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer to ensure that Eligible Woolworths Shareholder Applicants receive an allocation of Notes, either through the Woolworths Shareholder Offer or through the Broker Firm Offer.

Eligible Woolworths Shareholder applicants who received less than their desired allocation of Notes may purchase additional Notes on ASX following their commencement of trading on 25 November 2011. Investors are reminded there are risks associated with a purchase of Notes on ASX and are encouraged to seek professional guidance from an independent and qualified professional adviser before deciding to purchase Notes on ASX.

Eligible Woolworths Shareholder applicants that were not identified as receiving an allocation under the Broker Firm Offer have received an allocation of 21 Notes. If they were identified as receiving an allocation under the Broker Firm Offer, their application under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer has not been accepted.

Woolworths Shareholder Offer Applicants can obtain information about their allocation of Notes by calling the Woolworths Notes II Offer Information Line.

A scale back was applied to applicants under the Broker Firm Offer and Institutional Offer. Applicants under the Broker Firm Offer should confirm their allocation of Notes with their Syndicate Broker. Successful Institutional Investors under the Institutional Offer have been individually advised of their allocation of Notes by J.P. Morgan and UBS.

Further, applications under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer that: were accompanied by cheques that were subsequently dishonoured and online Applications, for which BPAY payments were not received; or were stated to be from nominees on behalf of persons located outside Australia, have not received an allocation under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer.

Trading on ASX

Notes are expected to commence trading today on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on a deferred settlement basis under the ASX code of “WOWHC”.

All Applicants are responsible for confirming the number of Notes allocated to them prior to selling any Notes. Applicants who sell Notes before receiving their Holding Statement or CHESS confirmation do so at their own risk (even if they obtained information on their allotment from the Woolworths Notes II Offer Information Line).

Trading on a normal settlement basis is expected to commence on Wednesday, 30 November 2011.

Holding statements and refund cheques

Holding Statements stating the number of Notes issued to each successful Applicant are expected to be despatched by Monday, 28 November 2011.

Any refunds are also expected to be despatched by 28 November 2011. Woolworths has also determined that accrued net interest on application monies received by it under the Woolworths Shareholder Offer will be paid to Eligible Shareholder Applicants together with the refund of their application monies.

Unless otherwise defined, capitalised terms in this release have the same meaning given to them in the Notes Replacement Prospectus dated 26 October 2011.