INI CASE (p. 325): SARA LEE CORPORATION’S EUROBONDS

INI CASE (p. 325):  SARA LEE CORPORATION’S EUROBONDS

Sara Lee Corp. is serving up a brand name and a shorter maturity than other recent corporate borrowers to entice buyers to its first-ever dollar Eurobonds.  The U.S. maker of consumer products, from Sara Lee cheesecake to Hanes pantyhose and Hillshire Farm meats, is selling $100 million in bonds with a 6 percent coupon.  These are three-year bonds; other corporate bond sellers including Coca-Cola Co., Unilever NV, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., have concentrated on their five-year maturities.

“It is a well-known name and it is bringing paper to a part of the maturity curve where there is not much there,” said Noel Dunn of Goldman Sachs International.  Goldman Sachs expects to find most buyers in the Swiss retail market, where “high-quality American corporate paper is their favorite buy,” Dunn said.

These are the first bonds out of a $500 million Eurobond program that Sara Lee announced in August 1995, and the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, said Jeffery Smith, a spokesman for the company.

The bond is fairly priced, according to Bloomberg Fair Value analysis, which compared a bond with similar issues available in the market.  The bond offers investors a yield of 5.881 percent annually or 5.797 percent semiannually.  That is 22 basis points more than they can get on the benchmark five-year U.S. Treasury note.

BFV analysis calculates that the bond is worth $100,145 on a $100,000 bond, compared with the re-offer price of $100,320.  Anything within a $500 range on a $100,000 bond more or less than its BFV price is deemed fairly priced.  Sara Lee is rated “AA-” by Standard & Poor’s Corp. and “A1,” one notch lower, by Moody’s Investors Service.

In July 1994, Sara Lee’s Netherlands division sold 200 million Dutch guilders ($127 million) of three-year bonds at 35 basis points over comparable Netherlands government bonds.  In January, its Australian division sold 51 million British pounds ($78 million) of bonds maturing in 2004, to yield 9.43 percent.

Discuss Sara Lee’s debt-financing strategy:

(a)   What are the advantages and disadvantages of their decision to finance with Eurobonds instead of using domestic dollar denominated bonds?

(b)   How does the variety of foreign currencies in which they do business help or hurt them?

Visit the Discussion Forum below and click “Create Thread” to reply to each question in your initial post.   I may also add more questions throughout the week to cover more material.  Be prepared to respond to these questions as well.

Expectations:Your first weekly post should be made no later than Wednesday of the week. It should be intuitive, thoughtful, and properly documented with supporting references using proper APA style (in-text citations AND a reference list). Your minimum of two additional posts to classmates should be done on separate days between Thursday and Sunday. These responses to other posts should also be well-written, thorough, and professional. The week closes on Sunday at 11:59 PM and you will no longer have access to the discussion.

EACH POST FOR THE DISCUSSION SHOULD BE AT LEAST 1 PARAGRAPH IN LENGTH (150 words). Quantity is IMPORTANT BUT QUALITY is just as important. Say something deep & intuitive, don’t just rephrase something you read or another student’s posting. Also remember the MINIMUM number of substantial posts each week is 3, but a MINIMUM effort will not earn a 100%. You need to go a bit beyond minimum for that. Support your writing with proper APA style documentation — ALWAYS.

Discussion Grading Criteria:

(40)  Thoroughly answered all questions

(10)  Original post by Wednesday

(20)  Quality of responses to at least two classmates (more is better!)

(10)  References to text and/or other sources

(10)  Spelling & grammar at college level

(10)  Posted on separate days

TOTAL:     100 points