Sweden's Volvo Cars issued a bond worth 2 billion Swedish crowns ($214.65 million), it said on Wednesday, just five months after the Chinese-owned carmaker terminated plans to list itself blaming trade tensions and a downturn in automotive stocks.
The funds from the bond sale add to Volvo's coffers at a time when carmakers need cash to develop electric and driverless cars and also face mounting costs from a prolonged US-China trade war and slowdown in large auto markets China and Europe.
Volvo, which is developing Polestar as an electrified performance brand and owns a stake in Chinese owner Geely's stablemate Lynk & Co, has repeatedly said it will finance electric and autonomous vehicle development from existing cash flows.
The new bond, which matures in February 2023 and pays a floating coupon of STIBOR plus 2.30 percent, will be used for general corporate purposes and not for a specific project, a Volvo spokesman said on Wednesday.
The bond was issued under Volvo's Euro Medium Term Note programme and Handelsbanken, Nordea and SEB acted as bookrunners on the transaction.
First Published: Feb 21, 2019 5:35 AM IST
