Air Canada (TSX:AC) (the “Company”) today announced that it has commenced an overnight marketed public offering of Class A Variable Voting Shares and/or Class B Voting Shares of the Company (“Shares”) for gross proceeds of approximately C$850 million (the “Offering”).

The Company intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the Shares in the Offering, exercisable in whole or in part at any time until 30 days after closing of the Offering.

The Offering will be priced in the context of the market with the price and other final terms to be determined at the time of entering into an underwriting agreement for the Offering.

Completion of the Offering will be subject to various conditions, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to supplement the Company's working capital and other general corporate purposes. The net proceeds from the Offering will serve to increase Air Canada's cash position, thereby allowing for additional flexibility both from an operational standpoint and in the implementation of its planned mitigation and recovery measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TD Securities Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Canada Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc. and Morgan Stanley Canada Limited are acting as joint active book-running managers for the Offering.

The Shares will be offered by way of a short-form prospectus in all provinces and territories of Canada and may also be offered in the United States to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”).