Goodyear senior notes offer to fund pension plan contribution

On 20 February, Goodyear Tire & Rubber announced that a public offering of its 8-year senior notes had commenced and will close on 25 February, subject to market and other customary conditions. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations and Goodyear says the offering has an aggregate value of US$900 million. They will be sold at 100 per cent of the principal amount and will bear interest at a rate of 6.5 per cent.

Net proceeds will primarily be used to fund discretionary contributions to Goodyear’s frozen US pension plans. Any funds not used for this purpose will be directed towards “general corporate purposes”, Goodyear added.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., Barclays Capital Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Credit Agricole Securities (USA) Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering.