ntl rights issue fully subscribed

ntl has announced that a £840m ($1.43bn) stock sale is fully subscribed, allowing Britain's biggest cable operator to raise money to pay down debt.

The company reported that "the shares of common stock exercised under the basic subscription privilege, together with over-subscription exercises, have resulted in subscriptions substantially in excess of the 35,750,000 shares of common stock NTL offered pursuant to the rights offering," in a preliminary tabulation.

Around £363m of the funds raised will repay in full ntl's Exit Notes, with a further £373m contributing to a total of £415m being used to fully repay the company's working capital facility. £62m will go to ntl Communications Ltd and appear on the general corporate balance.

ntl CEO Simon Duffy said:

"I am delighted with the success of our rights offering. Upon completion, we will significantly reduce our debt levels and generate annual cash interest savings of approximately £125m. This is great news for the business and positions us extremely well to execute our future growth plans."