BC Ferries sells C$200m bonds to renew fleet for rising tourist traffic

[LONDON] British Columbia Ferry Services is tapping the bond market for the first time since 2008 to replace ageing 426-foot vessels amid a rising number of global trekkers to the Pacific coast.

BC Ferries, as the company is known, sold C$200 million (S$238.4 million) of 30-year bonds earlier this week with a coupon of 4.7 per cent, after it redeemed C$140 million of notes with a 6.214 per cent coupon six months before they were due. The Victoria-based company is among issuers that have called C$5 billion o…