The airline’s bonds were bought by more than 100 investors from 25 countries, with demand exceeding supply. The bond interest rate is 6.75%.
The bonds issued by airBaltic are scheduled to be listed on the Euronext Dublin Stock Exchange.
“This is a historic achievement for our airline – not only have we issued the largest bonds in Latvia’s business history, but airBaltic has also become the first airline in Central and Eastern Europe to enter the international debt securities market with a Eurobond offer. Investors have clearly shown that “airBaltic’s strategy as strong. We will continue to implement our development strategy as part of airBaltic Destination 2025. By issuing bonds, we will significantly strengthen the company’s liquidity and balance sheet, as well as continue investing in the modernization of our aircraft fleet,” said airBaltic “Martin Gauss, Executive Director.
At the same time, in an interview with the Latvian Television program “Rīta Panorāma”, Gauss noted that the bond issue has not canceled the plans to attract a strategic investor to the airline. “If our shareholder – the Latvian state – wants to attract an investor, then it will happen,” he said.
Gauss also noted that the first half of 2019 was very successful for the airline, but the bonds were issued so that airBaltic could look to the future with confidence. “We want to be able to look to the future with confidence without restrictions – we need to finance the expansion of the fleet from these funds, and we want to improve our financial performance so that we have enough liquidity, enough working capital so that we can also grow internationally. from a competitive point of view, “he said.
Gauss also added that airBaltic plans to serve five million passengers this year.
The company was informed that airBaltic has chosen the investment bank JP Morgan as the global coordinator of this bond offer, which was working with SEB banka on the transaction. airBaltic’s leading legal counsel in the United Kingdom was the international law firm Dentons, while Latvian law was advised by the law firm Cobalt. JP Morgan and SEB’s legal counsel in the United Kingdom was Linklaters.
Paulius Žurauskas, Capital Markets Director of SEB Baltic, noted that the transaction underscores the strong support and appreciation of both regional and international investors for airBaltic’s performance. “Baltic and Nordic investors showed strong demand. This transaction paves the way for the further development of our region’s debt securities market,” he said.
It is planned that the execution of transactions for the purchase of bonds will be concluded on July 30, 2019.
airBaltic has also received the initial BB-credit rating of the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s with a stable future outlook.
