The first placement of dollar bonds was carried out by the Telegram Group company, which owns the Telegram messenger. The move allowed the service to raise $1 billion. According to experts, the funds received will be used to settle accounts with the TON blockchain platform investors.
According to Blomberg, convertible dollar bonds were placed until 2026 at 7% per annum at par. The first payment is scheduled for September 2021.
According to a Forbes publication, demand for Telegram bonds was high. Initially, the placement was expected to increase to $1.5 billion. The minimum lot for participation was $ 500 thousand, and the par value of one security was $1000.
The organizer of the placement of bonds on the OTC market was the Telegram Group itself. But she had several agents – VTB Capital, Aton, and Alfa Capital. Unfortunately, company representatives did not comment on the bond placement.
According to experts, investors were also interested in the opportunity to convert bonds into shares at a 10% discount, subject to the company’s IPO.
The attraction of finance was required not only to develop the messenger. We also need to pay off the debt to investors who invested in the Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain platform in 2018. Since the tokens’ issuance was blocked, the company pledged to return $1.22 billion to investors and pay a fine of $ 18.5 million.
Earlier, Telegram has already returned part of the specified amount. There are still about 625.7 million US dollars left to return until April 30, 2021.
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