US Private Placement
At the end of 2002, CLAAS became the first German company to issue 200 million USD of bonds on the US private placement market. The repayment of the private placement is scheduled from the end of 2010 through to the end of 2014 in five identical tranches and has a fixed coupon of 5.76% p.a.
The investors to the security were mainly US insurance companies with strict credit quality requirements. With the private placement, CLAAS was able to improve its long-term capital structure while at the same time expanding its base of investors to the US capital market.
Almost 10 years after its initial transaction, CLAAS returned to the US capital market in 2012 with a new US private placement. This time, 300 million USD were placed with major US insurance companies in two 10-year tranches. Tranche A has a volume of 190 million USD with a coupon of 3.98% and a maturity date of 15.08.2022. Tranche B has a volume of 110 million USD with a coupon of 4.08% and a maturity date of 15.11.2022.
With its latest activity on the US capital market, CLAAS has underlined its strong credit profile among professional investors. Due to strong investor demand and the attractive conditions, CLAAS decided during the marketing process to increase the issue from an initial volume of 100 million USD to 300 million USD. This success was based, among other factors, on years of good relations with notable US investors.
