Adidas placed a series of equity-neutral convertible bonds worth a total of €500 million on Sept. 5. The transaction was 2.7 times oversubscribed. The convertible bonds mature in five years with a coupon of 0.05 percent. The issue price was set at 104 percent of the nominal value of €200,000 for each bond. The initial conversion price will represent a conversion premium of 40 percent above a reference price for Adidas' shares that will be announced on or around Sept. 19. The bonds are expected to trade on the Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. They will be equity-neutral because Adidas will buy call options on its ordinary shares, paying cash amounts for them when the investors exercise their conversion rights. Adidas said it plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and to finance a portion of its share buyback program. As of Aug. 31, the company had bought back 3.5 million shares worth €677 million under a program, announced in March, to buy back a total worth €3.0 billion by May 2021.

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