(Bloomberg) -- Sotheby’s is taking out $1.1 billion of debt to help finance its $2.7 billion acquisition by French billionaire and art collector Patrick Drahi.
The auction house is selling $550 million of bonds through its BidFair MergeRight Inc. subsidiary, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The eight-year notes, which can’t be bought back for three years, are expected to price Friday, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details are private. It’s also issuing a loan of the same size, and the deal includes a nearly $2 billion equity component as well.
Drahi, the media mogul who controls Altice Europe NV, said he was buying Sotheby’s earlier this year, taking it private after more than three decades as a public company. In addition to funding the buyout, the proceeds will also repay Sotheby’s $990 million of outstanding debt, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The acquisition is expected to close later this year.
BNP Paribas SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are managing the bond sale, the person said. They’re holding a call with investors at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in New York.
--With assistance from Gowri Gurumurthy.
To contact the reporter on this story: Molly Smith in New York at msmith604@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Dawn McCarty
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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