Air France-KLM Sells Amadeus Stake At Tiny Discount

Banks acting on behalf of Air France-KLM (AF.FR) Thursday said they had sold a 7.5% stake in Amadeus IT Holding SA (AMS.MC) at EUR14.1 per share, raising EUR473.3 million for the French-Dutch carrier.

The placement of 33.57 million Amadeus shares was carried out by Goldman Sachs and Banco Santander through an accelerated bookbuilding process with institutional investors.

Shares were placed at a 1.4% discount to its closing price Wednesday of EUR14.3, an indication that demand for the shares was strong. In placements of this type, banks normally offer investors discounts of around 5% in order to shore up demand.

The buyers were a mix of existing and new investors "which would indicate a level of confidence in [Amadeus'] business," said a banker involved in the transaction. Most of the money came from the U.K. and U.S., the person added.

The Spanish regulator had halted trading in the stock before the market opened Thursday. After resuming trading, shares rose. At 0925 GMT, they were up 1.4% at EUR14.51.

Air France, one of the founding airlines of Amadeus, still controls 7.73% of the company, a similar stake to that held by peers Lufthansa and Iberia. All three carriers have agreed not to sell any additional shares in Amadeus for the next 90 days.

-By Christopher Bjork; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]