Charles Russell Speechlys has advised fastjet on its placing and subscription to raise total funds of US$44.2 million
Charles Russell Speechlys has advised AIM listed client fastjet plc on its placing and subscription to raise total funds of US$44.2 million in connection with agreements to enable expansion of the fastjet brand into South Africa and Mozambique, as well as access to three ATR 72-600 aircraft for 10 years equipping fastjet with the appropriate aircraft to benefit from these new market opportunities.
fastjet is a multi-award winning (including Skytrax World Airline Awards Best Low-Cost Airline and World Travel Awards’ Leading African Low-Cost Airline in Africa 2017) low-cost African airline for everyone. The airline has flown over 2.7 million passengers with an impressive aggregate 94% on-time performance, establishing itself as a punctual, reliable, and affordable low-cost carrier.
The placing was conducted by way of an accelerated book-building process. Liberum Capital Limited, fastjet's Nomad, acted as sole bookrunner on the placing. The placing was strongly supported by the Company’s major institutional shareholders, including Solenta Aviation Holdings Limited who have increased their holding and become a 29.9% shareholder in fastjet post the fundraising.
Mark Howard, Corporate Partner at Charles Russell Speechlys said “We are delighted to have assisted fastjet on this transformational transaction. The fundraising, together with the new agreements, will allow fastjet to expand its brand network to now cover South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Zambia as well as diversify revenue streams and lay the foundations for future profitable growth in a major step forward in fastjet’s long term ambition to become the leading pan African low cost airline. We look forward to working with Nico and his team as they now focus on delivering the company's growth initiatives. ”
Nico Bezuidenhout, CEO, commented: "The support we received from Mark Howard and the team at Charles Russell Speechlys at this critical juncture in the company's development was invaluable. They interacted effectively with both our local SA counsel and nominated adviser, had a very strong grasp of the technical legal issues and were able to combine this with commercial and pragmatic guidance which enabled us to deliver the deal to timetable. We look forward to working with them again."
The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by Mark Howard with support from Tom Smitham, Amelly Kok and Georgina Harris.
For more information please contact Mark Howard.
