Boyd Gaming Looks to Attract $900M through Bond Sale

Boyd Gaming is coming off an eventful year, as are most casino operators around the world. The company has had its ups and downs due to COVID-19 and had previously announced that it was going to offer new bonds in order to raise $750 million. It has now upped its offer and is looking to collect $900 million in less than two weeks. The new funds will be used, in part, to pay off existing debt.

Out with the Old, In with the New

A press release from Boyd issued yesterday indicates that the company’s new senior notes have an annual interest rate of 4.75% and will be paid on March 15 and September 15 each year until maturity on June 15, 2031. Some of the principal amount received through the offering will be used to pay off existing senior notes that carry an interest rate of 6.375% and which are set to expire in 2026. In addition to the new offering, Boyd will redeem all outstanding 6% senior notes that are due in 2026, taking a portion of the new money and combining it with available cash.

Revenue generated from the new offering, combined with cash available through a revolving credit facility, will also be used to cover the “redemption premiums, accrued and unpaid interest, fees (including the initial purchasers’ fees), expenses and commissions related to this offering and the redemptions,” according to the company. Boyd is offering the new bonds to “qualified institutional buyers” in the US and overseas and explains that the redemption of the 6.375% and 6% notes will only occur if it is able to successfully place the full amount.

Boyd Already Finding Strength Post COVID-19

Like gaming operators everywhere, Boyd took a massive hit from COVID-19, laying off one-quarter of its workforce in July of last year. The cost-saving measures employed by the company paid off, with the American Gaming Association indicating in November that Boyd was surviving better than Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and others. Since then, and with a greater focus on digital gaming, the company has continued to climb back to pre-COVID-19 levels.

The results are reflected in trading, with Boyd’s stock gaining 43% since the beginning of the year. With its 28 gaming properties – 11 of which are in Las Vegas – in ten states, Boyd has a significant footprint that will help it gain strength as COVID-19 restrictions continue to be lifted. Moody’s Investors Service calls the company “stable” and adds, “The stable outlook considers the recovery in the company’s business and margin improvement exhibited in Q3 and Q4 2020, and the expectation for continued sequential improvement in 2021. The stable outlook also incorporates the company’s good liquidity and the expectation for leverage to continue to come down from current levels as the business continues to recover and debt is reduced.”