Nickel miner Western Areas NL (WSA.AU) said Wednesday it has settled an A$125 million convertible bond, agreeing to repay two loans in the process.

As part of its settlement, Western Areas repaid and cancelled a A$45 million loan facility with BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and repaid an A$60 million Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) loan.

The A$125 million convertible bond was issued at a premium of about 28% to Western Areas' share price of A$5.18 at the time of the issue.

The bonds are convertible into Western Areas shares at an initial price of A$6.61 a share, carry a coupon of 6.4% and are due in July 2015.

"The completion of the bond issue has enabled the company to pay down all its bank debt and also to reduce and lock in future financing costs. This will provide further balance sheet flexibility to enable continued growth of Western Areas," Western Areas Managing Director Julian Hanna said in a statement.

"We look forward to being able to report a solid operating result" for the quarter ending in March, he added.

 
   -By Geoffrey Rogow, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4686; geoffrey.rogow@dowjones.com
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