AirTran Holdings, Inc., Announces Pricing of Convertible Senior Notes and Common Stock Offerings
Posted on Fri, Apr. 25, 2008
By AirTran Holdings, Inc.
ORLANDO, Fla., April 25 --
AirTran Holdings, Inc.
(NYSE: AAI), parent company of AirTran Airways, Inc., one of the nation's
leading low-fare air carriers, today announced that it has priced its
previously announced offering of $65 million of 5 1/2 percent Convertible
Senior Notes due 2015 (the "Notes"). AirTran also announced it has granted the
underwriters of the Notes offering a 30-day option to purchase an additional
$9.75 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes, solely to cover
over-allotments. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated served as sole bookrunner,
and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC served as co-lead manager for the Notes
offering.
The Notes will be convertible into AirTran common stock at an initial
conversion rate of 260.417 shares of AirTran common stock per $1,000 principal
amount of Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of
approximately $3.84 per share of AirTran common stock and represents an
approximately 20 percent premium to the price at which AirTran's common stock
was offered in the concurrent common stock offering described below. The
conversion rate and the conversion price will be subject to adjustment in
certain circumstances. The Notes will bear interest at a rate of 5 1/2 percent
per annum, payable on April 15 and October 15 of each year, beginning October
15, 2008. The Notes will mature on April 15, 2015, and may not be redeemed by
AirTran prior to maturity. Holders of the Notes may require AirTran to
repurchase all or any portion of the Notes if AirTran is involved in certain
types of corporate transactions or other events constituting a fundamental
change. Except for the pledge of the escrow account to secure the first six
scheduled semi-annual interest payments on the notes, the Notes are senior
unsecured debt obligations of AirTran. There is no sinking fund for the Notes.
Concurrently with the pricing of the Notes, AirTran has priced its
previously announced offering of common stock pursuant to a separate
underwriting agreement with Morgan Stanley, acting as sole bookrunner, and
Credit Suisse acting as co-lead manager, offering 22,312,500 shares of its
common stock to the public at a price of $3.20 per share. AirTran has granted
the Equity Underwriters the option to purchase 3,346,875 shares of the
AirTran's common stock solely to cover over-allotments, if any.
Closing of the Notes offering and the common stock offering are expected
to occur on April 30, 2008, subject to satisfaction of various customary
closing conditions.
As described in the Prospectus Supplements filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on April 22, 2008, AirTran intends to use the net proceeds
from this offering and the concurrent common stock offering as follows: (i)
approximately $10.7 million (or approximately $12.3 million, if the
underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) from the Notes
offering to acquire government securities that will be pledged for the
exclusive benefit of the holders of the notes and (ii) the remainder of the
net proceeds from the Notes offering and all of the net proceeds from the
common stock offering collectively for general corporate purposes, which may
include additions to working capital, capital expenditures, the retirement of
debt, other investments in strategic alliances, code-share agreements or other
business arrangements and, although AirTran is not presently in any
negotiations, possible acquisitions of other airlines or their assets.
AirTran has filed a registration statement with the SEC for the offerings
of the Notes and the common stock to which this communication relates. Before
investing, please read the prospectus and prospectus supplements for the Notes
and the common stock offerings in the registration statement and other
documents AirTran has filed with the SEC for more complete information about
AirTran and these offerings. These documents are available for free and may
be obtained by visiting the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies
of the prospectus and the prospectus supplements for the Notes and the common
stock offerings are available by contacting Morgan Stanley at 180 Varick
Street, 2nd Floor, New York, N.Y. 10014 Attention: Prospectus Department or
by email at prospectus@morganstanley.com, and Credit Suisse at One Madison
Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 or by calling toll free (800) 221-1037.
This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation
of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sales of these securities in any
state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities law of
any such state or jurisdiction.
About AirTran
AirTran Holdings, Inc., a Fortune 1000 company, is the parent company of
AirTran Airways, which ranked number one in the 2008 Airline Quality Rating
study and offers more than 700 affordable, daily flights to 58 U.S.
destinations. With 8,900 friendly Crew Members and America's youngest
all-Boeing fleet, AirTran Airways provides XM Satellite Radio and Business
Class seating on every flight. For more information and free online booking,
visit http://www.airtran.com.
Editors Note: This press release contains statements that contain
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of
historical facts, in this press release may be deemed forward-looking
statements. We use words such as "anticipate," believe," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "will," "would" and similar
expressions or the negative thereof to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words.
We cannot guarantee that we actually will achieve the plans, intentions or
expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and, accordingly, you
should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. There are
a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements, including those discussed under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in
the referenced prospectus and prospectus supplements. Any forward-looking
statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect new information,
events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to
reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time
to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which factors will arise.
In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the
extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements. Additional information on factors that could influence AirTran's
financial results is included in its filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
Media Contacts: AirTran Holdings, Inc.
Tad Hutcheson
Judy Graham-Weaver
Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas
Quinnie Jenkins
678.254.7442SOURCE AirTran Holdings, Inc.
Tad Hutcheson, or Judy Graham-Weaver, or Cynthia Tinsley-Douglas, or Quinnie Jenkins, all of AirTran Holdings, Inc., +1-678-254-7442,,
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