Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance advises Accor on €900-million perpetual hybrid bond issue

International law firm Clifford Chance has advised Accor on an issue of perpetual hybrid bonds in an amount of €900 million.

The securities have no maturity date, but are first callable as from June 30, 2020. They will pay a return of 4.125% until that date, with the rate reset every 5 years thereafter.

The securities will rank junior to all senior debt and, in accordance with IFRS they will be recognized as equity. They will be assigned "intermediate" equity content by S&P and Fitch, i.e., 50% of the securities will be recognized as equity.

Accor's long-term debt has been rated BBB- by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

At close to €5 billion, the order book was subscribed more than 5 times the final placement, reflecting investor confidence and the very good quality of the Accor signature.

The issue strengthens Accor's flexibility in deploying its strategy.

Barclays, BNP Paribas and Citi acted as Global Coordinators and Structuring Advisors. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, Banca IMI Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, HSBC, Santander GBM, SG CIB and UBS acted as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners.

Clifford Chance advised Accor with Cédric Burford (partner, Paris), Marie-Caroline Schwartz (associate, Paris) and Gemma Doyle (associate, Paris).