NEW YORK-Telephone and Data Systems Inc., Chicago, said Oct. 21 it had filed a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission covering $400 million of “Trust Originated Preferred Securities,” or TOPrS.
TOPrS is the name that Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., lead underwriter for the proposed issuance, has given to a form of preferred stock.
The preferred stock is planned for sale by business trusts of TDS that are organized under Delaware statutes. The trusts will use proceeds from the sale of TOPrS to purchase subordinated debentures issued by TDS itself.
TDS plans to use net proceeds from the sale of the debentures to repay some of its short-term debt, thereby giving itself latitude for the option of incurring additional short-term debt.
TDS owns cellular, local, paging and personal communications services providers through its subsidiaries United States Cellular Corp., American Paging Inc. and Aerial Communications Inc.
