Goodyear Announces Senior Notes Offering

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company said that it intends to commence an offering of approximately $1 billion aggregate principal amount of three-year and five-year senior notes subject to market and other customary conditions. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of the company. Goodyear intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay at maturity $515 million principal amount of its existing notes due December 1, 2006, and March 1, 2007. The company will use the remaining cash for general corporate purposes, which may include addressing the continuing strike by the United Steelworkers union.