After the success in the placement of Ethniki and the placement of Alpha Bank shares by the HFSF, listed companies want to take advantage of the positive market momentum and proceed with IPOs, placements and bond issues.
The performance of the Athens Stock Exchange - the world's top performing stock exchange -, the recovery of the investment grade and the steady rise in GDP are just three of the factors attracting foreign investors and activating Greek investors as well. At least four listed companies are currently seeking to raise more than €460 million from the market.
Today the public offer for Orilina expires. Despite the heavy climate for the sector's shares, the underwriters' side maintains that the issue is covered. According to reports, friendly forces of the main shareholders have 'rallied' and covered the issue amount of EUR 30.6 million.
Yesterday, the prospectus for Ideal Holdings' €100 million retail bond was approved, with the three-day public offering set for December 11, 12 and 13. Ideal's executives are choosing this particular market on the Athens Stock Exchange to attract new investors, offering a yield that is a far cry from term deposits. The yield range will be announced on Friday. With the €100 million of the bond, the parent company Ideal Holdings will repay €79 million of liabilities and the remaining €21 million will be used for new acquisitions. In reality the firepower for acquisitions will be considerably more than EUR 30 million, as the assets of the subsidiaries and the new leverage opportunities that will arise will have to be counted.
Of course, the biggest issue is the placement of Helleniq Energy. TAIPED and Latsis Group (Paneuropean) have agreed to allocate around 10% of the share capital with a current value of EUR 227 million, with the first objective of enhancing the stock's diversification in order to attract new capital in the future and make it a candidate for inclusion in MSCI indices.
The placement will be made by the two shareholders in proportion to their shareholding in the company's share capital. Currently this ratio is 57% for Paneuropean and 43% for the Hellenic Republic. The bid book will open tomorrow Thursday or next Monday. Goldman Sachs is advising the Latsis group and JP Morgnan is advising the HFFID. The shares will be offered at a discount of between 5% and 7%.
Latest reports indicate that the advisors are recording a reluctance of investors to invest in a refinery, as international trends favour renewable energy sources. On the other hand, the fact that the company has good profitability and, most importantly, a strong dividend policy should not be ignored.
Intralot will also issue its EUR 130 million retail bond early in the new year. The proceeds will be used to refinance the group's borrowings.
Cement maker Titan was also planning to issue a Eurobond, but in the end management preferred the banks' proposal to cover the issue. Banks are "chasing" creditworthy companies like Titan to lend to and, according to reports, the pricing of the new bond will be close to 4.5%. The size of the issue will be EUR 150 million and the proceeds will be used to refinance borrowings.
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