LONDON: Vodafone and Vantage Towers AG have set the price range for existing ordinary registered shares with no par value to be offered in Vantage Towers’ planned initial public offering (IPO) at between €22.50 and €29.00 per Share.
The final offer price will be determined based on a bookbuilding process. The period during which investors may submit purchase orders is to begin today and is expected to end on or around 17 March 2021.
Vivek Badrinath, Vantage Towers Chief Executive, commented: “The Vantage Towers IPO is moving ahead at pace. Today’s price range announcement is accompanied by the news that two leading global investors have committed to cornerstone our IPO with the purchase of €950 million of shares at the offer price.
Demand for data and connectivity across Europe is powering growth in the towers sector. Our superior grid and leading market positions mean we are well placed to benefit from this growth and our recent financial results highlighted the good commercial and operational momentum across the business.”
The IPO comprises a public offering in Germany and private placements in certain jurisdictions outside Germany. Vodafone is targeting gross proceeds from the base offer of €2.0 billion from the sale of up to 88,888,889 Shares (Base Offer).
Vodafone may increase the Base Offer with an amount of up to €500 million, by placing up to 22,222,222 additional Shares with investors in accordance with an upsize option, which Vodafone may exercise in agreement with the Joint Global Co-ordinators, representing up to 25% of the Base Offer (the “Upsize Option”).
Finally, Vodafone has made available up to 13,333,333 Shares, worth up to a further €300 million, to cover possible over-allotments, representing 15% of the maximum number of Shares offered in the Base Offer (Over Allotment Shares).
Vodafone has granted a greenshoe option to the underwriters to acquire the Over-Allotment Shares at the Offer Price (Greenshoe Option). The maximum offer size assuming the Upsize Option and the Greenshoe Option are both exercised in full will be €2.8 billion, which combined would represent 19.1% to 24.6% of Vantage Towers’ outstanding share capital.
Digital Colony, a leading digital infrastructure investor and operator, has agreed to be a cornerstone investor in the IPO, alongside RRJ, a global equity fund based in Singapore. Subject to certain customary conditions, Digital Colony and RRJ have agreed to purchase Shares in the IPO at the offer price, with commitments of €500 million and €450 million respectively.
Vodafone will receive all of the net proceeds from the potential sale of Shares under the Base Offer, Upsize Option and any Over-Allotment Shares acquired pursuant to the Greenshoe Option. Vantage Towers will not receive any proceeds from, or incur any costs in connection with, the IPO.
Based on the order book prepared during the bookbuilding process, the final offer price per Share and the final number of Shares placed are expected to be determined on or around 17 March 2021. Trading of the Shares on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) is expected to begin on or around 18 March 2021 under the trading symbol “VTWR”.
Vantage Towers, Vodafone Germany and Digital Colony have each agreed to a lock-up period of 180 calendar days, subject to certain customary exceptions.
Vodafone and Vantage Towers have engaged BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley and UBS as Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners, and Barclays, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies as Joint Bookrunners.
