Wednesday, May 25, 2011
(This story was originally published Tuesday.)
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Abu Dhabi government investment firm Aabar Investments Tuesday raised EUR1.25 billion of an unsecured exchangeable bond over Daimler AG (DAI.XE) shares that is due in 2016 following high investor demand, two bankers aware of the deal said.
Aabar had earlier launched a EUR750 million unsecured exchangeable bond but increased the size to EUR1.25 billion "following demand from investors during the book building phase," one of the bankers, who asked not to be named, told Zawya Dow Jones Tuesday.
Aabar, which is the largest shareholder in Daimler with a 9.1% stake, said earlier Tuesday its commitment to its investment in the German luxury car maker remained unchanged.
Aabar will use the proceeds of the offering, which is managed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, for general corporate purposes.
The bonds will be issued at par and will carry a semi-annual coupon of 4.00% a year and will be exchangeable into ordinary shares of Daimler at an exchange price of EUR62.3981, a premium of 30% above the reference price of EUR47.9985, the banker said.
Based on the increase issue size, the bonds will represent approximately 20 million Daimler shares, or 1.9% of the current total number of issued and outstanding Daimler shares.
Aabar is a diversified investment company for parent International Petroleum Investment Co., or IPIC, an Abu Dhabi government firm targeting international oil, gas and petrochemical assets.
The company holds stakes in Unicredit SpA, Glencore International AG, Tesla Motors Inc., Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, Falcon Private Bank Ltd. and Galactic Ventures LLC.
-By Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires; +9714 446-1698; mirna.sleiman@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
25-05-11 0352GMT
