SINA Corp. Prices $700 Mln Senior Notes Due 2018 For $123.70/share

(RTTNews) - SINA Corp. (SINA), a Chinese online media company, Friday announced the pricing of $700 million convertible senior notes, due 2018 for $123.70 per share. The company said the notes will be convertible into the company's ordinary shares on an initial coversion rate of 8.0841 of ordinary per share per $1,000 principal amount of notes. The convertion represents around 45 percent premium over the closing trading price of $85.31 per share on Thursday.

The company has granted to one of the initial purchasers a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $100 million principal amount of notes solely to cover over-allotments, if any. The company expects to close the offering on or about 20 November 2013.

SINA plans to use $100 million of the net proceeds from the offering to repurchase its own outstanding shares. The remainder of the net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital needs and potential acquistion of complementary businesses.

The notes will bear interest at a rate of 1.00 percent per year, payable semiannually in arrears on June 1 and December 1 of each year, beginning on June 1, 2014.

Thursday, the stock closed at $85.31 on the Nasdaq.