Invacare Corp. (NYSE:IVC) bought back nearly $143 million in high-yield senior notes as the company continues to reduce its debt load.
The Elyria, Ohio-based home healthcare products maker sweetened its deal for note holders, by paying $1,075 for every $1,000 note, according to the company.
The move is part of Invacare’s strategy to rid itself of high-cost debt in order to free up cash for acquisitions, the company said. In 2008, uncertainty posed by the global financial crisis and the first rumblings of U.S. healthcare reform caused Invacare to stop looking for companies to buy out.
Now that it’s successfully paid down some debt, Invacare will take a closer look at acquisition targets — it just isn’t sure when it’ll be ready to pull the trigger, Gerald Blouch, Invacare’s interim CEO, said last week while discussing the company’s third-quarter earnings.
“Since much of the market, particularly outside the United States, is dependent on government spending, I’d say there’s a fair amount of uncertainty, right now,” he said.
The company issued $175 million-worth of the notes, which pay 9.75 percent interest each year, in early 2007 as part of a $710 million debt refinancing. At the time, Invacare was doing its second wave of job cuts and plant closures in an effort to regain its financial footing.
