Grafton completes $325m US private placement

Grafton today announced it has completed a $325m (€488m) private placement with a group of US investors.

The proceeds have been converted into sterling and will be used principally to refinance the Group and for general corporate purposes.

The placement was arranged by Bank of Ireland’s Corporate Banking and Global Markets divisions in association with Macquarie Securities (USA) Inc.

Colm ó Nualláin, Grafton Finance Director, said: "We took advantage of a new source of capital from the buoyant US Private Placement market and received a very positive response from investors while at the same time improving the strength of the Group’s Balance Sheet, lengthening the age profile of the underlying debt and reducing the average cost of borrowed funds."