Bombardier to Issue C$750 Million of Equity

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 [e-mail]

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