Mattel, Inc. Announces Private Offering of Senior Notes due 2025

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) ("Mattel" or the "Company") announced today that it intends to offer $1,000,000,000 aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2025, subject to market conditions and other factors. The notes are expected to be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by all of the Company's existing and future wholly owned domestic restricted subsidiaries that will be borrowers or guarantors under its new senior secured revolving credit facilities, which are expected to close concurrently with or prior to the issuance of the notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the notes, plus cash on hand, to: (i) repay all of its 1.700% Senior Notes due 2018 upon or before maturity, (ii) repay all outstanding borrowings related to its commercial paper program, (iii) satisfy all outstanding obligations under and terminate the commitments under its existing revolving credit facility and (iv) pay related transaction fees and expenses.

In connection with the offering, on the morning of December 11, 2017, the Company will file a Form 8-K pursuant to Regulation FD containing additional information excerpted from the offering memorandum that is being disseminated in connection with the offering, a copy of which is available on the "Investors" section of Mattel's corporate website, http://investor.shareholder.com/mattel.

The notes are being sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States under Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes and related guarantees have not been registered under the Securities Act, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and other applicable securities laws.

This press release is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy the notes, nor shall there be any sale of the notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This notice is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains a number of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of words such as "anticipates," "expects," "could," "may," "intends," "plans," "confident that" and "believes," among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available operating, financial, economic and other information, and are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Mattel's control, could cause actual future results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Specific factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (i) Mattel's ability to design, develop, produce, manufacture, source and ship products on a timely and cost-effective basis, as well as interest in and purchase of those products by retail customers and consumers in quantities and at prices that will be sufficient to profitably recover Mattel's costs; (ii) downturns in economic conditions affecting Mattel's markets which can negatively impact retail customers and consumers, and which can result in lower employment levels, lower consumer disposable income and spending, including lower spending on purchases of Mattel's products; (iii) other factors which can lower discretionary consumer spending, such as higher costs for fuel and food, drops in the value of homes or other consumer assets, and high levels of consumer debt; (iv) potential difficulties or delays Mattel may experience in implementing cost savings and efficiency enhancing initiatives; (v) other economic and public health conditions or regulatory changes in the markets in which Mattel and its customers and suppliers operate, which could create delays or increase Mattel's costs, such as higher commodity prices, labor costs or transportation costs, or outbreaks of disease; (vi) currency fluctuations, including movements in foreign exchange rates, which can lower Mattel's net revenues and earnings, and significantly impact Mattel's costs; (vii) the concentration of the Mattel's customers, potentially increasing the negative impact to Mattel of difficulties experienced by any of Mattel's customers, including the bankruptcy of Toys "R" Us, Inc., or changes in their purchasing or selling patterns; (viii) the future willingness of licensors of entertainment properties for which Mattel currently has licenses or would seek to have licenses in the future to license those products to Mattel; (ix) the inventory policies of Mattel's retail customers, including retailers' potential decisions to lower their inventories, even if it results in lost sales, as well as the concentration of Mattel's revenues in the second half of the year, which coupled with reliance by retailers on quick response inventory management techniques increases the risk of underproduction of popular items, overproduction of less popular items and failure to achieve compressed shipping schedules; (x) the increased costs of developing more sophisticated digital and smart technology products, and the corresponding supply chain and design challenges associated with such products; (xi) work disruptions, which may impact Mattel's ability to manufacture or deliver product in a timely and cost-effective manner; (xii) the bankruptcy of Toys "R" Us, Inc. or other of Mattel's significant retailers, or the general lack of success of one of Mattel's significant retailers which could negatively impact Mattel's revenues or bad debt exposure; (xiii) the impact of competition on revenues, margins and other aspects of Mattel's business, including the ability to offer products which consumers choose to buy instead of competitive products, the ability to secure, maintain and renew popular licenses and the ability to attract and retain talented employees; (xiv) the risk of product recalls or product liability suits and costs associated with product safety regulations; (xv) changes in laws or regulations in the United States and/or in other major markets in which Mattel operates, including, without limitation, with respect to taxes, tariffs or product safety, which may increase Mattel's product costs and other costs of doing business, and reduce Mattel's earnings; (xvi) failure to realize the planned benefits from any investments or acquisitions made by Mattel; (xvii) the impact of other market conditions, third party actions or approvals and competition which could reduce demand for Mattel's products or delay or increase the cost of implementation of Mattel's programs or alter Mattel's actions and reduce actual results; (xviii) changes in financing markets or the inability of Mattel to obtain financing on attractive terms (xix) the impact of litigation or arbitration decisions or settlement actions; (xx) the closing of this private offering of notes and / or Mattel's new senior secured credit facilities; and (xxi) other risks and uncertainties as may be described in Mattel's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of Mattel's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, and Mattel's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for fiscal year 2017, as well as in Mattel's other public statements. Mattel does not update forward-looking statements and expressly disclaims any obligation to do so.  

SOURCE Mattel, Inc.