LV company shelves debt offering

Monday, March 20, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

Mandalay Resort Group has decided to shelve a $400 million bond offering over concerns about high interest rates.

The company had planned to sell $400 million in 10-year senior subordinated notes. Bloomberg News, citing sources close to the deal, said the company didn't want to pay yields as high as prospective buyers were demanding.

Bonds from the potential offering were recently rated "BB-minus" by Standard & Poor's and "Ba2" by Moody's Investors Service. These ratings are several levels below investment grade, and typically require an issuing company to pay significantly higher yields.

Mandalay was also deterred by stricter covenants demanded by potential buyers, Bloomberg said.

Sources familiar with the deal said Mandalay had hoped to redeem outstanding, variable-rate debt with the offering. The bonds would have carried a fixed interest rate.

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