The Australian energy giant yesterday said it had completed the issue of NZ$422 million and US$50 million of senior unsecured notes into the US private placement market. The notes were issued in four tranches maturing 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2020.

Origin chief financial officer Frank Calabria said proceeds from the New Zealand dollar-denominated notes had been used to repay a debt bridge facility established for the acquisition of Contact Energy.

Last October, Origin completed the acquisition of Edison Mission Energy’s 51.2% interest in Wellington-headquartered Contact Energy.

Its NZ$5.57 per share purchase price was adjusted by NZ$544 million, representing the net debt (including working capital) in the EME holding structure, giving a final Origin cash consideration of NZ$1.1 billion.

Calabria said the US dollar proceeds from the notes had been fully converted to Australian dollars and all future US dollar and US interest rate exposure arising from the notes had been fully hedged.

The issue lengthened the debt maturity profile of the company, providing "long-term certainty of debt financing at competitive funding margins", according to Calabria.

“This issue combined with the company’s strong cash flow means that Origin continues to be well placed to take advantage of further growth opportunities,” he said.

Joint lead arrangers to the issue were Bank of America Securities and Westpac Institutional Bank.