Lyondell to Raise $3.25 Billion in Debt

(Reuters) – LyondellBasell said late on Thursday that it plans to raise $3.25 billion in debt, including an offering of senior secured notes, as the chemical company charts its course to emerge out of bankruptcy.

The net proceeds from the sale of senior notes, coupled with borrowings under the term loan and proceeds from a $2.8 billion rights offering, would be used upon emergence from bankruptcy to repay and replace certain existing debt, the company said in a statement.

According to a disclosure statement filed on Monday, private equity firms Apollo Management LP [APOLO.UL] and Ares Management, along with holding company Access Industries, have agreed to back a $2.8 billion rights offering under which Lyondell would issue 263.9 million Class B shares.

Also, on Thursday, the company won court approval for a $450 million settlement to resolve litigation with creditors over its 2007 leveraged buyout, and pave the way for the big chemical company to emerge from bankruptcy. [ID:nN11243355]

The company filed for bankruptcy in January 2009 amid a sudden cash crisis under the weight of billions of dollars of debt, and a recession-driven decline in global demand for petrochemicals. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Hans Peters)