Slaughter and May acted for International Airlines Group (IAG) - launch of offer of senior unsecured bonds convertible into ordinary shares

Slaughter and May acted for International Airlines Group (IAG) on the launch of its offer of two tranches of senior unsecured bonds convertible into ordinary shares of IAG.

The aggregate offer size was fixed at EUR 1,000 million and the first tranche due 2020 will have a principal amount of EUR 500 million. The second tranche, due 2022, will also have a principal amount of EUR 500 million.

The Offering does not require approval by IAG shareholders and is being issued by IAG under the powers delegated to its board at its Annual General Meeting held on 18 June 2015.

The Bonds will carry a fixed rate of interest of 0.25% and of 0.625% per annum payable semi-annually in arrear for the 2020 Bonds and 2022 Bonds, respectively. The conversion price of the Bonds has been set at EUR 13.8088 per Share, which represents a premium of 62.5% over the volume weighted average price of the Shares on the London Stock Exchange in the period from launch to pricing.

The Bonds will be issued at 100% of their principal amount and, unless previously redeemed, converted or purchased and cancelled, will be redeemed at 100 per cent of their principal amount on the respective maturity dates of the Bonds.

The net proceeds from the Offering will be used by IAG for general corporate purposes, including (without limitation) the repayment of a bridge facility entered into by IAG's subsidiary, AERL Holding Limited, to finance its acquisition of Aer Lingus Group Plc.

An application will be made for the Bonds to be admitted to trading on the Open Market (Freiverkehr) of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Settlement of the Bonds is expected to take place on or about November 17, 2015.

Garrigues advised on Spanish aspects of the Offering.

Matthew Tobin Partner