--- title: "ICON plc issues $2.15 billion of senior unsecured notes" url: "https://aibio.space/news/icon-plc-issues-2-15-billion-senior-unsecured-notes/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-08-18" section: "Debt Financing" tickers: "NASDAQ:ICLR" source: "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1060955/000114036126033497/ef20080314_6k.htm" summary: "The notes mature in 2029, 2031 and 2036 and carry rates of 5.064%, 5.421% and 5.995%. Proceeds repaid term loans, a bridge facility and 2027 secured notes." --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [ICON PLC 8-K (2026-08-18)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1060955/000114036126033497/ef20080314_6k.htm) - [ICON PLC 20-F (2026-05-27): business](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1060955/000162828026038487/iclr-20251231.htm) - [ICON PLC financial data (SEC XBRL)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1060955/000162828026038487/) [ICLR](https://aibio.space/companies/icon/) 2026-08-18 # ICON plc issues $2.15 billion of senior unsecured notes Tickers [ICLR](https://aibio.space/companies/icon/) The notes mature in 2029, 2031 and 2036 and carry rates of 5.064%, 5.421% and 5.995%. Proceeds repaid term loans, a bridge facility and 2027 secured notes. ## Key facts - **Company**: ICON PLC (NASDAQ: ICLR) - **News type**: Debt Financing - **Primary source**: [ICON PLC 8-K (2026-08-18)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1060955/000114036126033497/ef20080314_6k.htm) *Trading screens with price charts. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* ICON plc said in a report on Form 6-K filed August 18, 2026 that its subsidiary, ICON Investments Six Designated Activity Company, sold $2.15 billion of senior unsecured notes on August 13, 2026. ICON guarantees the notes on a senior unsecured basis. The notes were sold in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and to non-U.S. persons under Regulation S, so they were not registered under the Securities Act. The filing says the sale followed a purchase agreement dated August 5, 2026, with several initial purchasers. It does not say which of them led the sale. The exhibit list names five firms as parties to the registration rights agreement: BofA Securities, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Morgan Stanley & Co. The filing names no separate placement agent, financial advisor or counsel. ## The notes and their terms The notes come in three series. The $500 million 5.064% notes mature on August 13, 2029. The $1.0 billion 5.421% notes mature on August 13, 2031. The $650 million 5.995% notes mature on August 13, 2036. All three pay interest semiannually on February 13 and August 13, starting February 13, 2027. Citibank, N.A. is the trustee under the base indenture and the supplemental indenture, both dated August 13, 2026. Under the registration rights agreement, the issuer agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to complete exchange offers for the notes no later than November 11, 2027. The exchange notes would carry the same terms, except that they would not contain transfer restrictions. ## Use of proceeds and collateral ICON used the proceeds to repay all outstanding term loans under its senior secured term loan facility on August 13, 2026. On August 14, it redeemed in full the issuer's 5.809% Senior Secured Notes due 2027, a series issued in May 2024 with a principal amount of $750.0 million. On August 17, it repaid all borrowings under the bridge secured credit facility of ICON Global Treasury Unlimited Company. Once those term loans and the bridge facility were repaid, the collateral securing ICON's revolving credit facility and the group's existing notes was automatically released, and the subsidiary guarantees under those existing notes were released as well. The new notes are unsecured. The 2024 secured issue also included $750 million of 5.849% notes due 2029 and $500.0 million of 6.000% notes due 2034, which are among the existing notes whose collateral was released. The filing describes the release but does not say what it means for the ranking of creditors if the company runs into trouble. The 20-F shows the original July 2021 structure as a $5,515.0 million term loan and a $300 million revolver, with the revolver's maturity extended to July 1, 2028 in November 2025. ## The business and its results ICON describes itself as a contract research organization founded in Dublin in 1990. It offers clinical development, functional outsourcing and laboratory services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The 20-F says the company has about 40,100 employees. Barry Balfe succeeded Steve Cutler as chief executive on October 1, 2025, and Cutler resigned from the board on May 21, 2026. The 20-F also marks its 2023 and 2024 revenue figures as adjusted for a restatement. The 2025 results fell from 2024. Net income was $229.3 million in 2025, against $739.1 million in 2024. Cash provided by operations was $1.04 billion, against $1.29 billion. Year-end cash and cash equivalents were $538.8 million for 2024, and the filings show no short-term investments at either year-end. During 2025, ICON redeemed 4,504,330 ordinary shares at an average of $166.51 for a total of $750.0 million, and it had $750.0 million of repurchase authority left at December 31, 2025. The company now carries $2.15 billion of new unsecured debt at fixed coupons from 5.064% to 5.995%, due between 2029 and 2036. The 6-K, which Chief Financial Officer Nigel Clerkin signed, does not give ICON's interest expense or its cash balance after the August repayments. 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Cite as: aibio.space, "ICON plc issues $2.15 billion of senior unsecured notes", 2026-08-18, https://aibio.space/news/icon-plc-issues-2-15-billion-senior-unsecured-notes/