Teva announces successful pricing of debt offering

Teva has announced the successful pricing of a debt offering by three of its special purpose finance subsidiaries, as part of the fiscal process following its recent Cephalon takeover.

A total of $5 billion (3.63 billion pounds) of senior notes have been priced, consisting of six tranches, which will be guaranteed by Teva and rated A3 by Moody's Investor Services and A-minus by Standard and Poor's.

Net proceeds from this offering will repay around $3.75 billion of short-term indebtedness used to finance its acquisition of Cephalon, which was completed last month.

Eyal Desheh, Teva's chief financial officer, said this is the largest offering done by an Israel-based company, while levels of demand far exceeded the final order book.

"Teva's ability to raise this amount in a volatile market is a testament to our strength, as well as to the market's confidence in our business performance," he added.

Following the takeover of Cephalon, the combined organisation will have a presence in more than 60 countries.