Canadian energy firm Enbridge Inc. became the world’s first non-financial issuer to sell debt linked to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, a U.S. replacement for Libor. On February 19, Enbridge closed an SEC-registered offering of $500 million of floating rate senior notes due 2023, which use a compounded SOFR benchmark.
Enbridge saw strong demand for the new debt, with the offering nearly six times oversubscribed.
SOFR was recommended by the Federal Reserve’s Alternative Reference Rate Committee as a replacement for LIBOR, and a phase-out is scheduled for the end of this year.
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and TD Securities (USA) LLC acted as joint bookrunning managers.
The S&C team advising Enbridge was led by Robert Buckholz and included Benjamin Kuder. Saul Brander advised on tax matters and Kirsten Rodger advised on EU and UK matters.