On Friday International Hotel Investments announced the issue of a €25 million 10-year bond bearing an interest rate of 6.25 per cent per annum.

The bonds will be redeemable in 2020 but may be redeemed earlier, as from 2017 at the issuer’s option.

The bond’s proceeds will be principally used to redeem the outstanding amount of the five per cent IHI convertible bond which matures on 29 May 2010 and to repay an existing loan facility in full.

Preference will be given to applicants holding the maturing five per cent IHI convertible bond who surrender their existing holding in favour of a holding in the new bond. Registered shareholders and bondholders of the Corinthia Group – including IHI, Corinthia Finance plc and Mediterranean Investments Holding plc – will also be given preference.

Application forms and copies of the prospectus are available from authorised financial intermediaries. Subscriptions open on Wednesday 24 March and the offer closes on Tuesday 30 March or earlier if over-subscribed.

“IHI’s prudent approach to business, coupled with the group’s fine-tuned business acumen and knowledge of the industry in which we operate, has helped the company turn these challenging times into an opportunity to invest in international markets. At present we are focusing strongly on major cities in Western Europe and the strategy is to continue identifying investment opportunities in a number of mature markets like Rome and Paris,” explains IHI managing director Joseph Fenech.

“As a result of the geographical spread of our assets, IHI managed to limit the impact of the effects of the recession from its feeder markets. We are grateful to the Maltese public for their continuous support of our strategy and we are confident that the upcoming bond issue will be no different.”

IHI was established as a publicly-traded company in 2000 with the intention to acquire, develop and operate upscale hotels and ancillary real estate in Europe and beyond, principally in fast-evolving destinations.

IHI’s investments to date have featured a combination of new-construction of landmark developments, as also the acquisition of existing hotels, where IHI has maximized the earnings potential of each of the acquired hotels by way of major refurbishment and expansion projects.

The bond is managed by Bank of Valletta plc, which is also acting as Bond Registrar. Charts Investment Management Service Limited is the sponsoring stockbroker while Camilleri Preziosi Advocates are legal counsel to the bond.