London—Dentons has advised airBaltic, the leading airline in the Baltic region that is 80 per cent owned by the government of Latvia, on its successful debut Reg S bond issue of €200 million 6.75% bonds due in 2024.

airBaltic currently flies to over 80 destinations and has one of the world's most modern and fuel efficient Airbus A220-300 aircraft fleet. The Company is the fastest growing airline by number of passengers in the Baltics and is the flag carrier of Latvia.

The deal is the largest corporate bond issue ever from Latvia and airBaltic is the first airline in Central and Eastern Europe to access the Eurobond market. The bonds are listed on Euronext, Dublin. The Joint Lead Managers were J.P. Morgan, and SEB.

Martin Gauss, chief executive officer of airBaltic said: “This is a historic milestone for our airline – not only have we issued the largest bond of any company in the history of Latvia, airBaltic also became the first airline in Central and Eastern Europe to access the international debt capital markets with a Eurobond offering. Investors have clearly shown that they see airBaltic's strategy as mature and strong. We will continue to execute the growth strategy outlined in our Destination 2025 business plan and we will significantly strengthen our liquidity with the issue of the bonds and continue investments into our fleet.”

The team was led by Dentons' London based Capital Markets partner, Nick Hayday. Nick said: "We are delighted to have worked with airBaltic and the underwriters – J.P. Morgan and SEB – on such a significant debut bond transaction. We are pleased to see this landmark Latvian bond issue come to market after much hard work by all and to have been able to deliver it on such a tight timeline. The issuance also reflects Dentons' continuing strength in capital markets transactions in the airline industry and across Central and Eastern Europe."

Alongside Nick Hayday, the team advising on the deal included senior associate Nicholas Yao and trainees Gemma Dreelan and Imogen Dean. Support was also provided by London based capital markets partner David Cohen.

Cobalt provided Latvian law advice to airBaltic and Linklaters provided English law advice to the underwriters.

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