Vodafone and Vantage Towers set final offer price at €24 per Vantage Towers share
LONDON: Vodafone Group and Vodafone GmbH in consultation with Vantage Towers AG and the underwriters have set a final offer price of €24.00 per share for existing ordinary registered shares with no par value offered in Vantage Towers’ initial public offering (IPO).
In total, Vodafone is placing 95.833 million shares (including 12.5 million shares to cover over-allotments) in the IPO, amounting to a total placement of up to €2.3 billion based on the offer price (assuming the greenshoe is exercised in full).
The Shares placed represent 18.9% of Vantage Towers’ issued and outstanding share capital. Based on the offer price, Vantage Towers’ total market capitalisation amounts to approximately €12.1 billion. Vodafone will use the net proceeds from the placing to pay down debt.
Trading of the Shares on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) is expected to commence 18 March 2021, under the trading symbol “VTWR”.
Vantage Towers, Vodafone Germany and Digital Colony, a cornerstone investor, have each agreed to a lock-up period of 180 calendar days, subject to certain customary exceptions.
Nick Read, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group, said: “This IPO unlocks value for our shareholders: it demonstrates the value of our towers assets in a 5G world, sets up Vantage Towers to unlock its full potential as a focused independent tower operator, with the proceeds reducing Group debt. Eighteen months ago we started the carve out of Vantage Towers as part of our strategy to improve returns on our assets. We have moved at pace and today’s successful IPO is the culmination of all that hard work.
The strategy to reshape Vodafone to create sustainable stakeholder value continues.”
Vivek Badrinath, Vantage Towers Chief Executive, commented: “We have had great engagement with investors and we are pleased with the successful completion of the offering. The IPO is an important milestone and sets the foundations for the next stage of Vantage Towers’ growth within the dynamic towers sector. Our commercial focus, superior grid and strong balance sheet means we are well-placed to capture these opportunities.”
BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley and UBS are acting as Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners, and Barclays, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies are acting as Joint Bookrunners.
Vantage Towers is a leading towers company in Europe with approximately 82,000 macro sites in 10 countries, connecting people, businesses and devices in cities and rural areas.
The company was founded in 2020. Its headquarters is in Düsseldorf, Germany. Vantage Towers’ portfolio includes towers, masts, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. By building, operating and leasing this passive infrastructure to Vodafone and other network operators, Vantage Towers is making a significant contribution to better connectivity and the sustainable digitisation of Europe.
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