Zions Raises $87.9 Million in Debt Auction

Zions Bancorp. (ZION) in Salt Lake City has raised $87.9 million in a sale of subordinated notes.

The $54 billion-asset company sold $75 million of notes through an online auction and $12.9 million outside the auction, it announced Thursday. It sold fixed-rate notes at an interest rate of 6.95% and floating-rate notes at Libor plus 3.89%, it said.

The auction was conducted through Zions Direct, the company's online broker-dealer subsidiary. The underwriters were Deutsche Bank (DB); Goldman Sachs (GS); Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith; and Macquarie.

Zions will net $85.9 million in the sale and plans to use the money for general corporate purposes, possibly including the redemption of securities, the company said.

It had said earlier in the week that it planned to sell between $75 million and $250 million of notes.

Zions has been raising money through other means, too. It auctioned preferred stock through Zions Direct in August, and sold $300 million of preferred stock in May.