Invacare Corp. (NYSE:IVC) has purchased nearly $143 million in high-yield senior notes as the home healthcare equipment maker continues to reduce its debt load.
The Elyria, Ohio-based company sweetened its deal for note holders by paying $1,075 for every $1,000 note, according to a statement from 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. In 2008, uncertainty posed by a worldwide financial crisis and the first rumblings of U.S. healthcare reform caused Invacare to stop acquiring.
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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.