According to an announcement by Fitch Ratings Ltd. on Thursday, Brazilian-based Gerdau plans to sell up to $1 billion of dollar-denominated bonds to repay outstanding obligations.
Gerdau said in a securities filing on Thursday it hired the investment banking units of JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and Banco Santander to hold investor meetings that could lead to a global bond offering.
The company did not elaborate on terms of a possible sale. Fitch assigned a BBB- rating to the offering, which will be made through the steelmaker's Gerdau Trade Inc. subsidiary.
Gerdau plans to use part of the funds from the bonds sale to repay $600 million of its bonds that were first sold in September, 2005, Fitch said. Other pending liabilities could also be paid off with the proceeds.
Earlier this week (Wednesday) Gerdau agreed to buy California-based mini-mill Tamco for $165 million.