Boeing launches $19 billion share sale to boost liquidity

Boeing factory workers voted last week to reject the company’s latest contract offer, which included a wage increase of 35% spread over four years

Boeing Co. launched a nearly $19 billion share sale meant to address the troubled planemaker’s liquidity needs and stave off a potential credit rating downgrade to junk.

The company offered to sell 90 million common shares and about $5 billion of depositary shares, according to a statement Monday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report. The offering would total just under $19 billion, based on Friday’s closing price of $155.01.

Boeing shares fell about 1% in pre-market US trading. They have slumped more than 40% this year.

New Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg is grappling with a balance sheet strained by years of turmoil and the fallout from a strike, now in its seventh week, that is crippling manufacturing of the company’s main cash cow, the 737 Max jetliner. Boeing needs the capital infusion to maintain its investment-grade rating and fund its production ramp-up once the walkout ends.

The company is on pace to use around $4 billion in cash during the fourth quarter, which would bring its free-cash outflow to around $14 billion for the year. The planemaker expects to continue burning cash through the first half of next year as it restarts its airplane factories, including the assembly lines for its cash-cow 737 Max jetliner.

Boeing factory workers voted last week to reject the company’s latest contract offer, which included a wage increase of 35% spread over four years. The company plans to cut its workforce by about 10%, Ortberg said in a memo to employees Oct. 11.

The company on Oct. 23 received clearance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $25 billion of equity and debt. Boeing also has a separate new credit agreement in place for $10 billion, giving it “additional short-term access to liquidity as we navigate through a challenging environment.”

Ortberg is also considering options to streamline Boeing’s broad portfolio. He has launched a review of its businesses that the CEO expects to conclude by year-end. The company is weighing options for the future of its troubled Starliner space capsule program as part of the review, Bloomberg News has reported.