Thanks to a successful bond issue, and chipping in with its own cash, Alcatel-Lucent managed to pay back early a $1.75 billion loan that was secured with the group’s patents.

“The early repayment of the senior secured loan taken out in January 2013 is another major milestone in our execution of The Shift Plan,” said Michel Combes (pictured), CEO of the Franco-US supplier. “Through the measures we have taken to strengthen our balance sheet, we have also been able to regain control of our own destiny, in particular, the release of intellectual property, giving us now the freedom and flexibility to leverage these assets as and how we see beneficial for Alcatel-Lucent’s future.”

The bonds, which come in two tranches, are convertible into shares. One tranche of around €600 million matures end-January 2019 and the second of about €400 million matures end-January 2020.

The Shift Plan envisages €1 billion in cost savings between 2013 and 2015 as well as asset sales of more than €1 billion over the same period.