Metro €1.01 billion private placement and exchangeable bond issue

Overview:

• Franz Haniel & Cie (Haniel) sold around 5% of its stake in German retail chain Metro through a private placement and issued a €500 million convertible bond, exchangeable into Metro shares, raising €1.01 billion from the two transactions. 
• Haniel, the holding company and investment arm of the Haniel family, is the largest shareholder in Metro.
• Through a block trade, Haniel sold 16.5 million shares at €30.37 each to institutional investors, raising around €501 million. 
• Haniel issued a €500 million senior unsecured convertible bond, which bears no interest, has a maturity of five years (May 2020) and represents approximately 4% of Metro's share capital. 
• The private placement reduced Haniel's 30.1% share in Haniel to 25%.
• Haniel remains the Metro's largest shareholder.
• Proceeds from the transactions will be used to 'rebalance the Haniel portfolio', the issuer said.   
• Société Générale was the sole lead arranger on both transactions.

Ben Naylor - Regional editor