Charles Russell Speechlys advises fastjet on its placing, subscription, open offer and balance sheet restructuring to issue equity with a total value of US$40.7 million

Charles Russell Speechlys has advised AIM listed client, fastjet plc, on its placing, subscription, open offer and balance sheet restructuring to issue equity with a total value of US$40.7m. Admission of the new shares occurred on 17 December 2018.

fastjet is a multi-award winning low-cost African airline (recently including the World Travel Awards’ Leading African Low-Cost Airline in Africa 2018), which has flown over 2.7 million passengers with an impressive aggregate of 94% on-time performance, establishing itself as a punctual, reliable, and affordable low-cost carrier.

Nico Bezuidenhout, CEO of fastjet plc, commented: “The team at Charles Russell Speechlys provided invaluable advice and support throughout the transaction. Their expertise and agility in advising on technical legal issues in a commercial context proved mission critical. We look forward to working with the team as we now focus on our continuing operations in Zimbabwe and growth-markets of South Africa and Mozambique.”

Mark Howard, corporate partner, commented: “We are delighted to have helped fastjet through this challenging phase. The third successive award as Africa's leading low cost carrier, received at the 2018 World Travel Awards, supports fastjet's brand building journey whilst the benefit of a restructured balance sheet going forward, should support sustainable growth.”

The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by corporate partner, Mark Howard, with invaluable support from banking partner Paul Kay, corporate senior associate Tom Smitham, associate Alex Stevens and trainee Nouf Mattar.