Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft launches the offering of approx. EUR 525 million convertible bonds due 2025
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH, OR TO PERSONS IN ANY JURISDICTION TO WHOM, SUCH DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft (the "Company") decided today to launch an offering of senior unsecured convertible bonds due 2025 in an aggregate principal amount of approx. EUR 525 million (the "Bonds"). The Bonds will be convertible into new and/or existing no-par value ordinary registered shares of the Company (the "Shares").
The Bonds will be offered by way of an accelerated bookbuilding to institutional investors outside the United States of America (the "United States") as well as outside of Australia, South Africa, Japan and any other jurisdiction in which offers or sales of the Bonds would be prohibited by applicable law (the "Offering"). In Canada, the Offering will only be made in the provinces of Ontario, Québec, British Columbia or Alberta, to institutional investors who are both an accredited investor and a Canadian permitted client under applicable Canadian securities laws. The shareholders’ pre-emptive rights (Bezugsrechte) will be excluded.
The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes.
The Bonds with a denomination of EUR 100,000 per Bond will be issued at 100% of their principal amount. Unless previously converted, redeemed or repurchased and cancelled, the Bonds will be redeemed at their principal amount on 17 November 2025. The Bonds will be offered with a coupon between 2.25% and 2.75% per annum, payable semi-annually in arrear. The initial conversion price will be set at a conversion premium between 30% and 35% above the reference share price (being the volume weighted average price (VWAP) of the Shares on XETRA between launch and pricing of the Offering on 10 November 2020).
The Company may redeem all, but not some only, of the Bonds outstanding at their principal amount plus accrued interest at any time (i) on or after 8 December 2023 if the price of the Company's share is equal to or exceeds 130 per cent. of the prevailing conversion price on each trading day within a certain period, or (ii) if at any time the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds outstanding and held by persons other than the Company and any of its subsidiaries has fallen to 20 per cent. or less of the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds originally issued.
The Company has agreed not to offer any Shares or equity-linked securities within a period of 90 calendar days after the settlement of the Offering, and not to enter into any transaction having a similar economic effect, subject to customary exemptions.
The final terms of the Bonds are expected to be determined and announced through a separate press release later today. Settlement is expected to take place on or around 17 November 2020, and admission to trading on the non-regulated open market segment (Freiverkehr) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is expected shortly thereafter.
Disclaimers:
This announcement may not be published, distributed or transmitted, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America (including its territories and possessions), Australia, South Africa, Japan or any other jurisdiction where such announcement could be unlawful. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons who are in possession of this document or other information referred to herein should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, securities of the Company or of any of its subsidiaries in the United States of America, Germany or any other jurisdiction. Neither this announcement nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, an offer in any jurisdiction. The securities offered will not be and have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements under the Securities Act.
In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only directed at persons who (i) are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order") or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc. (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons")). This document must not be acted on, or relied upon, by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.
In member states of the European Economic Area the placement of securities described in this announcement is directed exclusively at persons who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 (Prospectus Regulation).
The Bonds are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the EEA or the UK. For these purposes, a "Retail Investor" means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of MIFID II; (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (as amended, the "Insurance Distribution Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of article 4(1) of MIFID II. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 (the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the Bonds or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the Bonds or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA or the UK may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.
No action has been taken that would permit an offering or an acquisition of the securities or a distribution of this announcement in any jurisdiction where such action would be unlawful. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.
This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the placement. Investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the placement for the person concerned.
This release may contain forward looking statements, estimates, opinions and projections with respect to anticipated future performance of the Company ("forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "may," "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on the current views, expectations and assumptions of the management of the Company and involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Any forward-looking statements included herein only speak as at the date of this release. We undertake no obligation, and do not expect to publicly update, or publicly revise, any of the information, forward-looking statements or the conclusions contained herein or to reflect new events or circumstances or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent subsequent to the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We accept no liability whatsoever in respect of the achievement of such forward-looking statements and assumptions.