VoIP equipment maker AudioCodes Ltd. (Nasdaq: AUDC; TASE: AUDC) is substantially improving its debt structure. The company has fully redeemed convertible bonds issued five years ago on schedule. Most of the bonds were held by funds of billionaire investor George Soros; the company bought back about $70 million worth of bonds from him.
In a notice to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), AudioCodes said that Soros's stake in the company is now zero. At the end of 2008, Soros-owned funds owns bonds convertible into 3.7 million AudioCodes' shares, amounting to 8.5% of its share capital.
In November 2004, AudioCodes, run by chairman, president and CEO Shabtai Edelsberg, raised $125 million in an issue of convertible bonds. The bonds carried 2% coupon interest, and were due to be redeemed in 2024. The conversion price was $18.70 per share; AudioCodes' share price has been $1-3 in the past few months.
The bondholders were given the option of demanding that AudioCodes convert the bonds into shares, or buy the bonds back at par in November 2009, 2014, and 2019. The deadline came, and the company fulfilled its commitment.
AudioCodes closed on Nasdaq on Friday at $2.57, giving a market cap of $103 million. The share rose 0.5% on the TASE today to NIS 9.66.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 15, 2009
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