Rudolph Angler Wall Street bankers working on stock sales to help companies raise capital received an early boost this season. Boeing announced on Monday its plan to sell $19 billion in stock and depositary shares to avoid a credit downgrade amid ongoing challenges from a costly workers’ strike. The sale ultimately raised close to $21 billion, making it one of the largest equity-capital-market deals for U.S. bankers in history.
Leading banks like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan took part as joint bookrunners, with additional support from RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley, and others. Boeing’s financial advisor for the sale was PJT Partners, the company confirmed.
With proceeds surpassing the $16.5 billion Facebook raised in its groundbreaking 2012 IPO, Boeing’s raise is one of the largest ever recorded. According to S&P Capital IQ data, it ranks as the third-largest global common-stock offering. The largest remains the Brazilian oil company Petrobras’ $41 billion raise in 2010, followed by Lloyds’ $22 billion raise in 2009.
In scale, Boeing’s capital raise surpasses any other stock offerings this year, including the $2.7 billion raised by Thoma Bravo and the $4.4 billion IPO from real estate trust Lineage, per LSEG data.
The capital infusion comes at a crucial time for Boeing, which reported a loss exceeding $6 billion in its latest earnings report. The company has been dealing with a series of safety concerns related to mechanical issues, unsettling investors. Additionally, a strike involving over 30,000 workers, ongoing since September, has compounded Boeing’s challenges. Its share price has slid from $251 per share at the start of 2024 to around $155 as of late October, a decrease of approximately 38%.
For Wall Street, this signals an uptick in dealmaking activity, reminiscent of the investment surge of 2021. The resurgence of major mergers, including Mars’ $36 billion acquisition of snack maker Kellanova, suggests dealmaking momentum is building. Bankers are optimistic that 2025 may bring a full rebound in the capital markets.