By Paul Vieira
Bombardier Inc. said Thursday it would raise about 750 million
Canadian dollars ($604 million) through an equity offering as the
Montreal plane and train maker looks to bolster its balance
sheet.
Bombardier said last week that it was looking to raise up to
$2.1 billion through the issue of both debt and equity. Its
financing plans came as it unveiled a steep fourth-quarter loss and
named a new chief executive to tackle what many observers called a
series of management missteps related to the company's ambitious
jet program.
Bombardier said has agreed to sell more than 339 million
subscription receipts to an underwriting group led by National Bank
Financial Inc., UBS Securities Canada Inc., CIBC and Citigroup
Global Markets Canada Inc., at C$2.21 each. Each receipt will be
exchangeable for a Class B share once the company obtains
shareholder approval to increase its authorized share-issue
limits.
The offer is below the C$2.45 that the Class B shares most
recently traded at in Toronto.
The company said certain members of the Bombardier family, which
controls the company through its holding of supervoting Class A
shares, would participate in the offering by acquiring the
Canadian-dollar equivalent of $50 million in equity.
Bombardier family members control 54.35% of the votes. A company
spokeswoman said the family's control would decrease as a result of
the share issue, although to what level has yet to be determined.
The class-B equity carry one vote per share, compared with the 10
votes per class-A share. The spokeswoman added the family would
still maintain control over 50% of the votes.
Bombardier currently has about 1.44 billion Class B shares
outstanding, according to the Toronto Stock Exchange website.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
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