Global law firm Freshfields has advised a syndicate of leading financial institutions on the €650m issuance of Additional Tier 1 capital instruments (AT1 notes) by Raiffeisen Bank International AG. The group of banks includes BofA Securities Europe, BNP Paribas, Citigroup Global Markets Europe, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Raiffeisen Bank International and UBS Europe as Joint Lead Managers as well as Banco de Sabadell and ING Bank Belgian Branch as Co-Managers.

The new AT1 notes, which strengthen the regulatory capital of one of Austria's leading banks, were placed exclusively with institutional investors. The AT1 notes were admitted to the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange on 25 November 2024. Citibank Europe Plc acts as Principal Paying Agent and Calculation Agent.

In addition, Freshfields advised the Joint Lead Managers on a tender offer by Raiffeisen Bank for its outstanding €650m AT1 notes from 2017. The tender offer enabled noteholders to sell their notes to the issuer Raiffeisen Bank International at a purchase price of 101.875%. The buyback was settled on 27 November 2024.

The multidisciplinary and multijurisdictional Freshfields team was led by Partners Stephan Pachinger (Capital Markets, Vienna/Frankfurt) and Christoph Gleske (Capital Markets, Frankfurt). The core team also included Principal Associate Birgit Schulz (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) and Associates Benedikt Graf (Capital Markets) and Maximilian Ihra (Banking and Finance, both Vienna). Partner Katharina Kubik and Associates Annika Streicher and Rosa Glunz (all Tax, Vienna) advised on tax law aspects.