Metro Inc. Prices Aggregate C$300 Million Senior Unsecured Notes Offering

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 30, 2023 /CNW Telbec/ - METRO INC. ("Metro") today announced the pricing of a private placement offering of C$300 million aggregate principal amount of 4.657% Series K Senior Unsecured Notes due February 7, 2033 (the "Series K Notes"). The Series K Notes will carry a coupon of 4.657% and were priced at $1,000 per $1,000 principal amount, for an effective yield of 4.657% per annum if held to maturity. Metro intends to use the proceeds of the offering to repay existing indebtedness under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes.

Considering the bond forward contracts previously entered into, Metro estimates that the effective blended interest rate of the Series K Notes will correspond to approximately 4.71% per annum.

BMO Capital Markets, National Bank Financial Markets and RBC Capital Markets are acting as co-lead managers and joint-bookrunners for the offering and CIBC World Markets Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., TD Securities Inc. and Casgrain & Company Limited are acting as co-managers for such offering.

The Series K Notes will be direct unsecured obligations of Metro and will rank pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Metro.

The Series K Notes are being offered in Canada on a private placement basis in reliance upon exemptions from the prospectus requirements under applicable securities legislation and have been assigned provisional ratings BBB with a positive trend, by DBRS Limited, and BBB by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. 

Closing of the offering is expected to take place on February 6, 2023.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

The Series K Notes have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered, sold or delivered in the United States of America or its territories or possessions or to U.S. persons except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to an exemption therefrom. The information in this press release is not complete and may be changed. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Series K Notes in the United States.

With annual sales of more than $19 billion, METRO Inc. is a food and pharmacy leader in Québec and Ontario, providing employment to more than 95,000 people. Its purpose is to Nourish the health and well-being of our communities. As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of 975 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics, and 645 drugstores primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners. For more details, visit corpo.metro.ca.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management's expectations related to expected future events including, but not limited to, statements relating to the closing of the proposed offering of Series K Notes and the intended use of proceeds thereof. This forward-looking information typically contains future or conditional tense verbs and the words "should", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "may", "will", "potential", "plan", "project" or other similar terms. These forward-looking statements are not facts, but only reflections of management's estimates and expectations. Although Metro believes that these statements are based on information and assumptions which are current, reasonable and complete, these statements are necessarily subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's expectations as set forth in such forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including market and general economic conditions and the risks and uncertainties discussed in the "Risk Management" section in disclosure materials filed from time to time with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The closing of the proposed offering of Series K Notes is subject to customary closing conditions and there can be no assurance that the proposed offering of Series K Notes will be completed or that the terms of the proposed offering of Series K Notes will not be modified. 

The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof and Metro does not undertake to publicly update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events contained in these forward-looking statements may or may not occur. Metro cannot assure that projected results or events will be achieved.

SOURCE METRO INC.