Mediacom Communications said Monday it has completed $2.17 billion in debt transactions, deals that will lower its interest payments significantly and extend maturities on certain obligations.
The deals include about $745 million of revolving credit facilities and $1.425 billion in bank term loans for its Mediacom LLC and Mediacom Broadband LLC subsidiaries.
In a press release, Mediacom said the transactions extended nearly 80% of its debt maturities to March 2025, with the remainder due February 2024. The deals also reduced the average interest rate on Mediacom’s total outstanding debt from 4.2% in Q1 2019 to under 2.5%, an all-time low for the company. As a result, Mediacom’s annualized interest expense dropped from $99 million in Q1 2019 to under $53 million currently, another all-time low for the company.
“We are very pleased with the execution of these financing transactions, particularly given the extreme market turbulence caused by the coronavirus pandemic since we launched the syndication three weeks ago,” Mediacom founder, chairman and CEO Rocco Commisso said in a press release. “The debt markets recognize that Mediacom is among the strongest financially in the U.S. cable sector, with the lowest cost of debt relative to other major cable companies. We are grateful for the steadfast support of our long-time banking relationships and, at the same time, we welcome our new lenders. As always, I am thankful for the tremendous work and determination of Mediacom’s 4,500 employees, who produced excellent financial and operational results in 2019, highlighted in Q4 2019 by our 92nd consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth and record free cash flow generation. Their continued efforts are vital to keeping our communities connected throughout this public health crisis.”
