Cardtronics to Finance 7-Eleven Deal With Junk Bonds

HOUSTON – Cardtronics Inc., which has emerged as a major provider of EFT services for credit unions, plans to raise $125 million to finance the company’s planned acquisition of ATMs in 7-Eleven convenience stores with an offering of junk bonds, the company said yesterday. The funds from the offering of 9.25% senior subordinated notes will be used with available cash and borrowing under the company’s revolving credit facility to finance the $135 million 7-Eleven deal, which is scheduled to close in the third quarter. The purchase of the 5,500 7-Eleven ATMs will make Cardtronics one of the main providers of electronic funds services for credit unions because those machines are connected to the credit union-owned CO-OP Network, and almost 2,000 of them are about to be added to Financial Services Centers Cooperative’s shared branch network. Hundreds of credit unions also have access to Cardtronics’ 28,500 existing ATMs in the U.S., through either the Credit Union 24 network or Cardtronics’ Allpoint subsidiary.