(Bloomberg) — Boeing Co. filed to sell as much as $25 billion of equity and bonds this week, but the planemaker is still awaiting what is typically immediate clearance from regulators, a move that could take days or even weeks and inserts another layer of uncertainty into the process.
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The company’s shelf registration on Tuesday, a filing to pre-register the securities, had not been deemed effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the document. While that clearance is typically automatic for companies as big as Boeing, regulatory issues surrounding its disclosures about aircraft safety may prevent it from getting speedy approval, securities lawyers said.
Without the SEC’s green light, Boeing cannot launch its hotly-anticipated sale that stands to shore up depleted funds and help it maintain a credit rating that is now hovering just above junk.
The SEC can take 5 to 10 business days to let a company know if its registration will need a more formal review, the lawyers said. The review, in turn, could take days or weeks depending on the depth of the inquiry.
The process can be expedited, meaning Boeing’s situation could be quickly resolved, lawyers said. However, the company has faced two cease-and-desist orders and a separate probe about public statements regarding aircraft safety that may be delaying what’s usually a quick approval process, they said.
The cease-and-desist orders date back to 2022, when Boeing made what SEC called “materially misleading statements to investors” about accidents involving its 737 MAX aircraft. The SEC is also probing statements Boeing made about safety practices following another accident in January, Bloomberg News previously reported.
Companies can be ineligible for an automatically effective shelf registration if they’re the subject of government action, including a cease-and-desist violation, over the past three years, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
Spokespeople for Boeing and the SEC did not have immediate comments about the company’s shelf registration approval.
In that filing, Boeing sought a number of ways to raise money. It could sell any combination of common shares, preferred shares, senior bonds and subordinated bonds, among other instruments. The company is considering raising about $15 billion in a sale of shares and a mandatory convertible bond, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Boeing is in need of cash after burning through more than $8 billion during the first half of the year as it slowed production to address quality shortfalls. The financial strain has worsened since a monthlong strike by hourly workers shut down factories across its Pacific Northwest industrial base.
Boeing reports quarterly results on Oct. 23 and pre-announced some figures last week when unveiling job cuts.
The planemaker doesn’t need to move imminently on the equity raise to protect its barely-investment-grade credit rating. Its cash balance of $10.3 billion is above the level that would prompt a downgrade. Boeing revealed Tuesday that it has also lined up a $10 billion credit facility as an alternative source of funding.
A share sale that brings in more than $10 billion would be the biggest for an already-public company in the US since 2020, when SoftBank Group Corp. offloaded a large chunk of its stake in wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc. It would also rival Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s more than $12 billion offering in June.
–With assistance from Lydia Beyoud, Julie Johnsson and Benedikt Kammel.
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