CVC Divests Entire 13.8% Stake in Naturgy for €4 Billion Through Goldman Sachs
Overview of CVC's Stake Sale in Naturgy
By Jesús Aguado
May 26 (Reuters) - Private equity fund CVC Capital Partners on Tuesday sold its entire 13.8% stake in Spanish energy company Naturgy, worth around €4 billion ($4.65 billion) at current market prices, through Goldman Sachs, the U.S. bank said.
Background and Recent Transactions
The divestment comes after BlackRock sold its remaining 11.4% stake in Naturgy for 2.79 billion euros in March.
Details of the CVC Placement
• CVC, which first became a shareholder of Naturgy in 2018, carried out a private placement on behalf of its investment vehicle Rioja Acquisition, offering 107.5 million shares in the energy company, or 11.08%, through an accelerated bookbuilding process.
Pricing and Bookbuilding Process
• The per share price in the bookbuilding operation was set at 28.55 euros, a discount of 4.64%, according to a bookrunner. This would imply a price of €3.068 billion.
• CVC also agreed to settle certain pre-existing derivative transactions with Goldman Sachs to sell 26.4 million shares, around 2.72% of Naturgy.
Role of Goldman Sachs and Investor Interest
• Goldman, the sole bookrunner, said the placement was aimed at institutional investors.
• The bookrunner said that the books had been times oversubscribed.
Settlement and Shareholder Structure
• The transaction will be settled simultaneously with the placement, the bookrunner said, adding that Naturgy will not receive any proceeds from the sale.
• Spanish holding company Criteria will remain the biggest shareholder in Naturgy with a 28.5%, followed by Australian IFM's 15.5% holding.
Impact on Naturgy
• Following the sale by CVC, Naturgy is expected to increase its free float.
($1 = 0.8601 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado in Madrid; editing by Andrei Khalip)
