Exhibit 99.1
CenturyLink Announces Level 3 Financing, Inc.’s Completion of Senior Secured Notes and Senior Secured Credit Agreement
MONROE, LA, Dec. 2, 2019 –CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced that Level 3 Financing, Inc., its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary (“Level 3 Financing”), entered into indentures with Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee, in connection with Level 3 Financing’s issuance of $750 million aggregate principal amount of its 3.400% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (“2027 Notes”) and $750 million aggregate principal amount of its 3.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2029 (“2029 Notes”, and together with the 2027 Notes, “Senior Secured Notes”).
CenturyLink also announced that Level 3 Financing completed the issuance of a new $3.11 billion Tranche B 2027 Term Loan (“2027 Term Loan”).
The net proceeds from the offering of the Senior Secured Notes and the 2027 Term Loan issuance, plus cash on hand, were used to refinance Level 3 Financing’s $4.61 billion senior secured Tranche B 2024 term loan. Based upon current circumstances and subject to various changes in conditions, the company expects to account for the refinancing primarily as an extinguishment of debt and expects that any gain or loss from the transactions will not be material to its financial results.
The 2027 Notes were priced to investors at 99.780 percent of their principal amount and will mature on March 1, 2027. The 2029 Notes were priced to investors at 99.985 percent of their principal amount and will mature on November 15, 2029.
The new 2027 Term Loan will bear interest at LIBOR plus 1.75 percent, with a zero percent minimum LIBOR, and will mature on March 1, 2027. The 2027 Term Loan was priced to lenders at par, with the payment to the lenders at closing of an upfront 25 basis point fee.
The Senior Secured Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 or any state securities laws in the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. The Senior Secured Notes were offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and tonon-U.S. persons outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Senior Secured Notes do not have registration rights.
