Swire Pacific to sell Cathay Pacific stake at nearly 7.7pc discount in accelerated exchange trade

Swire Pacific (0019,0087) said on Wednesday that it has successfully executed the accelerated exchange trade, including a repurchase of HK$4.69 billion in bonds and the sale of 362.65 million Cathay Pacific Airways' (0293) shares.

The conglomerate will place Cathay Pacific's shares at HK$13.2 each - a 7.69 percent discount to its closing price of HK$14.3 on Tuesday, with gross proceeds of HK$4.79 billion.

Following the deal, Swire Pacific's stake in Cathay will fall by 5.96 percentage points to 39.15 percent.

This came as Swire Pacific issued HK$4.7 billion zero-coupon exchangeable bonds linked to Cathay Pacific shares in June. The group collected indications of interest from bondholders a day ago and then conducted the accelerated exchange trade.

Swire Pacific is expected to record a gain of nearly HK$1.12 billion from the share placement, and the overall net gain from the accelerated exchange trade is expected to be approximately HK$704 million.

The remaining principal amount of the outstanding Bonds amounts to approximately HK$11 million, it said.

The group noted in a statement that it remains confident in, and committed to, Cathay Pacific and does not intend to propose any material change to the airline's governance and management arrangements.

Swire Pacific intends to retain a significant long-term strategic shareholding in Cathay Pacific Airways, it added.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓