Wolf Theiss has advised Erste Group Bank AG on the issue of EUR 500 million Eligible Liabilities Format Notes. Allen & Overy Frankfurt and Rautner Attorneys at Law reportedly advised the consortium of banks.
The deal was signed on April 12, 2019 and closed on April 16, 2019.
According to Wolf Theiss, the Eligible Liabilities Format Notes, rated A by Fitch, A2 by Moody's, and A by Standard & Poor's, have a tenor of five years. The bonds were placed with institutional investors with a coupon of 0.375% per year. The Eligible Liabilities Format Notes will be eligible for the Minimum Requirement for Own Funds and Eligible Liabilities purposes and are listed on the Official Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Wolf Theiss's team consisted of Partners Claus Schneider and Niklas Schmidt, Counsel Eva Stadler, and Associate Nikolaus Dinhof.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Rautner confirmed that it had advised the consortium of banks - consisting of Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, Morgan Stanley, NATIXIS and Societe Generale - as joint lead managers on the successful bond issuance, which the firm described as "the first international benchmark transaction of non-preferred senior instruments - a new class of debt instruments introduced at European level - in Austria."
The bond - which was placed with institutional investors and listed in Official Trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange - is subject to German law with the exception of its status clause, which is governed by Austrian law.
The Rautner team was led by Partner Walter Gapp.
