Air Canada in $1bn share offering, adds to cargo network

Air Canada (AC, Montréal Trudeau) has raised the size of a financing effort revealed last week to around CAD1.4 billion Canadian dollars (USD1 billion) as it strengthens its cash base to face the ongoing pandemic. It offered 30.8 million Class A variable voting shares and Class B voting shares, pricing them at CAD16.25 (USD11.86) each, which will raise CAD500.5 million (USD365.4 million), the company said in a statement. It will also float USD650 million in convertible senior unsecured notes that will mature on July 1, 2025, an increase from an initial plan for USD400 million. These will have an interest rate of 4% per year and be convertible into shares at a price of about USD15.35 per share. Air Canada has given the offering’s underwriters an option to buy up to an additional 15% of the shares, while initial buyers of the convertible notes will also be able to purchase up to an extra 15%. “The company will use the net proceeds from the offerings to supplement its working capital and other general corporate purposes,” it said in the statement. It added that the proceeds “will serve to increase Air Canada’s cash position, thereby allowing for additional flexibility both from an operational standpoint and in the implementation of its planned mitigation and recovery measures in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.”