🔒CT electronics manufacturer nets $7.4B from debt offering to fund major acquisition

Wallingford electronics manufacturer Amphenol Corp. disclosed Monday that it has raised about $7.43 billion in net proceeds from a large debt offering to help finance its pending purchase of several connectivity businesses from CommScope Holding Co. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Amphenol — one of the world’s largest suppliers of electronic connectors and interconnect systems — issued $8.5 billion in senior notes across seven tranches, with maturities ranging from 2027 to 2055 and interest rates between 3.8% and 5.3%. Amphenol said it will combine the net proceeds with cash on hand and short-term borrowings to fund the acquisition of CommScope’s Connectivity and Cable Solutions segment. The $10.5 billion purchase, first announced in August, includes CommScope’s data-center, broadband and building-connectivity units, which are expected to strengthen Amphenol’s position in high-speed communications and infrastructure markets. This is the third recent acquisition Amphenol has made from North Carolina-based CommScope. Earlier this year, the Connecticut company bought CommScope’s mobile networks business, Andrew, for about $2 billion and last year purchased its outdoor wireless network and distributed antenna systems businesses for $2.1 billion. The debt offering was led by J.P. Morgan Securities, BNP Paribas Securities, Mizuho Securities USA and BofA Securities. Amphenol has been on a buying spree in recent years as it expands its portfolio of component and connectivity businesses. In August, the company acquired Dallas-based Rochester Sensors, a $100 million liquid-level sensor maker for industrial applications, and on Nov. 6 it closed its previously announced $1 billion cash purchase of Trexon from Audax Private Equity, adding a high-reliability cable-assembly business. The company reported record third-quarter sales of $6.2 billion, up 53% from a year earlier, and net income of $1.25 billion, more than double the prior-year period. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 52% to 25 cents per share.