Vodafone Ukraine (VFU), Ukraine’s second-largest mobile operator, which has repurchased approximately $22 million worth of its own Eurobonds since late May following several offers related to dividend payments, has announced another similar tender at 98% of par value for a total of $1.18 million.
As noted in a statement on the Irish Stock Exchange, prior to this, on March 2, the company made another monthly dividend payment of UAH 50.866 million, which is equivalent to the monthly cap of EUR 1 million set by the National Bank for such payments.
Applications to participate in the tender are being accepted through March 26, and settlements are scheduled for April 3.
Bonds maturing in February 2027 with a coupon rate of 9.625% per annum were issued for $300 million. Their redemption is related to the fact that on April 24, 2025, VFU announced the accrual of dividends to its shareholder in the amount of UAH 660.245 million ($15.9 million at the exchange rate specified in the announcement) for 2024. In accordance with National Bank restrictions, these dividends will be paid in separate monthly installments. It is expected that each such monthly dividend will amount to a sum in hryvnia equivalent to EUR1 million. The company emphasized that, under the terms of the bond issue, it must in such a case offer all bondholders the opportunity to submit an application to sell their bonds for an amount equal to the dividends paid outside Ukraine.
In the first two tenders, mobile operator “Vodafone Ukraine” repurchased bonds in an amount equivalent to EUR1 million. The initial repurchase was announced at 99% of par value, the second at 90% of par value. The company did not announce the results of the second buyback on the exchange, while the bid-to-cover ratio for the first buyback was 0.0040355668.
According to the results of the third tender, where the buyback price was reduced to 85% of par value and the offer was capped at $4.67 million, “Vodafone Ukraine” received bids totaling $53.395 million and accepted them for $5.208 million. The scale factor was 0.1315451889487317.
The fourth tender was announced on August 13 but was subsequently extended seven times. As a result, the redemption price was increased from 85% to 98%, and the redemption amount to $10.84 million. The company received bids totaling $127.14 million for this amount. Some of the bonds were returned to their holders due to the inability to split the face value, while the remainder were accepted with a scaling factor of 0.1150681.
In the fifth, sixth, and seventh bond buyback tenders in December, January, and February, the price was again 98%: in the fifth tender, with bids totaling $1.165 million, the scaling factor was set at 0.01901; in the sixth, with bids totaling $1.475 million, it was 0.04234; and in the seventh, with bids totaling $1.185 million, it was 0.3246.
Overall, based on the results of the seven tenders, the total nominal value of bonds remaining in circulation is $277.98 million.
As reported, mobile operator VFU increased its net profit by 10.7% to UAH 3.4468 billion and revenue by 13.3% to UAH 19.03 billion in the first nine months of 2025.
The report noted that in 2025, the company received loans from related parties to service and redeem Eurobonds. In February, the parent company Telco Investments B.V. provided $49.59 million for the partial repayment of Eurobond debt. In June, an agreement was signed with Telco Investments for a dollar-denominated credit line in an amount equivalent to 660 million UAH, at 10% per annum, maturing in 2028.
Finally, in July 2025, a loan agreement was signed with the Dutch company Cemin B.V. for $10 million at 10% per annum, with a repayment term no later than the end of 2027, but not before the maturity of the Eurobonds. The funds are credited in tranches to the company’s bank account at a foreign bank and are intended to be used to redeem the bonds that Vodafone Ukraine is issuing in connection with the resumption of dividend payments this year.
