Macy’s repurchases $500 million in debt

Cincinnati Macy’s reported that it has repurchased $500 million face value of senior notes and debentures pursuant to the company’s strategy for early retirement of its debt that matures over the next three years.

The debt repurchases, completed since Jan. 30, were made in the open market for a total cost of approximately $526 million, including expenses related to the transactions. As a result of the debt repurchase, Macy’s has booked $27 million in premium and fees to interest expense in first quarter 2010, which the company expects will be offset during fiscal 2010 by reduced interest expense on the debt repurchased. In addition, the company expects net interest expense to be reduced by approximately $15 million in fiscal 2011.