Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised a consortium of Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, HSBC, and UniCredit on the placement of Qiagen NV’s USD 500 million convertible bond due in 2027 and the management of bondholder’s buyback of Qiagen's convertible bonds due in 2021.
According to Freshfields, “Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch [acted] as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners … [with] BNP Paribas, HSBC, and UniCredit [acting] as further joint bookrunners for both the issue and the buyback.”
Freshfields reported that, “in the event of conversion, the bondholders will be repaid the bonds at their nominal value in accordance with the more detailed provisions of the bond conditions and (convertible) shares will only be delivered in a number whose value corresponds to Delta between the nominal amount and a reference value specified in more detail in the bond terms and conditions, based on the then current market price (so-called net share settlement).” The firm reported that “the simultaneous repurchase of the convertible bonds maturing in 2021 was carried out with a total volume of over 170 million US dollars.”
According to Freshfields, “the convertible bonds due 2027 are to be included in the open market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange … the proceeds from the issue will be used to finance the simultaneous repurchase of the convertible bonds due in 2021 as well as general corporate purposes.”
The Freshfields team included, in Vienna, Partners Stephan Pachinger and Principal Associate Christian Jollinger; in Frankfurt, Partner Christoph Gleske, Counsel Kyle Miller, and Principal Associate Nikolaus Bunting; and in Amsterdam, Partner Hanneke Rothbarth, Counsel Igor Dovgaliouk, Principal Associate Bob Van Kasteren, and Senior Associate Zach Truscott.
Freshfields could not provide further information about the deal.