Air Berlin lowers net indebtedness and improves liquidity with convertible bond placement

Air Berlin placed (20-Aug-2009) a convertible bond amounting to EUR125 million with institutional investors outside the US, Canada, Australia and Japan. Part of the inflowing capital will be used to repurchase EUR90 million in existing bonds, with the remaining EUR70 million to be used to refinance future aircraft purchases and to improve liquidity. The carrier stated it expects equity to improve from EUR332 million to EUR504 million, resulting in a reduction in net indebtedness of EUR182 million to EUR597 million, including the equity transactions carried out this year. The convertible bond, divided into partial bonds with a nominal value of EUR50,000 and a five-year maturity, has a coupon of 9%. Air Berlin and the institutional investors agreed to a conversion price of EUR4.01/share. [more]