Big River Steel Prices $265 Million of Tax-Exempt Industrial Development Revenue Bonds Maturing in Twenty-Nine Years

OSCEOLA, Ark., Aug. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Big River Steel announced today that it priced $265 million of tax-exempt Industrial Development Revenue Bonds maturing on September 1, 2049. The bonds, when issued, will be designated as "Green Bonds" and the net proceeds will be used for eligible green expenditures for waste recycling and waste reduction that Big River Steel believes contribute substantially to pollution prevention and control. Big River Steel's ability to issue Green Bonds is consistent with Big River Steel's industry-leading environmental sustainability position as the world's only LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified steel producer.

Big River Steel will use the bond proceeds to finance or refinance an expansion of its Flex Mill^®, which is expected to double Big River Steel's capacity and further improve its ability to produce steel products, and to fund costs of issuance of the bonds. The expansion project, which commenced in January 2019, is expected to be completed later this year on time and on budget.

When commenting on the successful bond offering, Ari Levy, Big River Steel's chief financial officer, stated, "The level of interest shown by the bond investor community in supporting Big River Steel is much appreciated. Given the success we had in the pricing of these bonds and the overall transaction execution, Big River Steel is closely monitoring the near-term debt capital markets to evaluate additional debt financing opportunities. Any such near-term debt financing initiatives are likely to prioritize refinancing existing indebtedness (including any fees, expenses and premiums relating thereto)." 

The Arkansas Development Finance Authority is acting as the conduit issuer of the bonds, the proceeds from which will be loaned to Big River Steel. BofA Securities is serving as lead underwriter for the offering and Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, Wells Fargo Securities, Crews & Associates, Inc. and Truist Securities are acting as co-managers.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. 

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the expansion project and financing plans, including the offering of the bonds and equity financing. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect actual outcomes, except as required by law.

SOURCE Big River Steel