Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Air France-KLM, a leader in global air transport, on its issue of bonds convertible into new shares and/or exchangeable for existing shares (OCEANE) for an amount of approximately €500 million, launched on March 19, 2019.
The net proceeds from the issue of the bonds will be used by the group for general corporate purposes, including the refinancing of the subordinated perpetual notes issued in 2015 and callable in October 2020.
The nominal unit value of the bonds has been set at €17.92, corresponding to a premium of 70 percent above Air France-KLM's reference share price on the regulated market of Euronext Paris. The bonds will be issued on March 25, 2019 and will be redeemed at par on March 25, 2026. The bonds will bear a coupon of 0.125 percent.
The French State, which currently holds 14.29 percent of Air France-KLM's share capital, has subscribed to 3,987,165 bonds in the context of the offering, corresponding to a nominal amount of €71.45 million.
The bonds, which were offered by way of a private placement to institutional investors, will be admitted to trading on the Euronext Access market of Euronext Paris.
HSBC, Natixis and Société Générale acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners.
White & Case also advised Air France-KLM in September 2018 on its €195 million bond tender offer and in October 2017 on the acquisition of equity stakes in its share capital by China Eastern Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The White & Case team in Paris which advised on the transaction was led by partners Thomas Le Vert and Séverin Robillard and included partners Max Turner and Alexandre Ippolito, with support from associates Boris Kreiss, Isabelle Touré-Farah, Guillaume Monnier and Guillaume Keusch.
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