NII Holdings Shines Over Sprint In Debt Offering (S, NIHD)

Unlike the operations of Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S), NII Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: NIHD) has managed to stay out of the red.  Now it is showing that even when it raises capital that its investors don’t treat it like they do Spring Nextel here in America.

The company, often called Nextel International, operates in major business centers and related transportation corridors of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Chile.  It is raising $500 million in 7/625% 10-year senior notes for the NII Capital Corp. unit and guaranteed by the parent company.

These notes are an additional issuance and will rank equally (and form a single series) with the $750 million of the current 7.625% Senior Notes due 2021 initially issued on March 29, 2011.

The joint book-running managers are listed as Deutsche Bank Securities, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan.  The filing showed that co-managers are Citigroup, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley.

The filing noted, “As of September 30, 2011, our non-guarantor subsidiaries had $4,946.9 million in liabilities outstanding, including $1,485.1 million of indebtedness.”

NII Holdings shares are up 0.9% at $22.69 so far for the day and its 52-week trading range is $21.19 to $46.32.  The company is profitable and is still growing while the old Nextel namesake in the U.S. is floundering under the Sprint brand in America.  Unfortunately for the Latin American version, its shares are also considerably down from the highs.

FULL FILING