German flagship carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG sold new bonds worth €1.6bn ($1.9bn) on Thursday to partly repay bailout debt from the government taken to tide through the pandemic last year. It raised:
- €750mn 4Y bonds at a yield of 3%, 345.3bp over Mid Swaps and 37.5bp inside initial guidance of 3.375% area
- €850mn via 7Y bonds at a yield of 3.875%, 417.2bp over Mid Swaps and also 37.5bp inside initial guidance of 4.25% area
The bonds, expected to be rated Ba2/BB- in line with the issuer, received orders worth €2.6mn ($3.1bn), 1.6x issue size. Lufthansa said that it will use €500mn ($598mn) to refinance liabilities due this year and the balance to repay part of the €3bn ($3.59bn) loan from state development bank KfW, which was part of a €9bn ($10.76bn) rescue package agreed by the government in June last year. CEO Carsten Spohr said that he does not expect a return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024, adding to speculation that the company may need to sell or partially list its Lufthansa Technik maintenance division. The bonds carry a change of control clause as well as a clean-up call (80%) as per Bloomberg.
