Shore Capital acted as Nomad, Global Co-ordinator & Bookrunner raising €175m for Applegreen
Applegreen plc
(“Applegreen” or the “Company” or, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”)
Placing Raising €175 million (c. £156m)
Publication of Admission Document in relation to the Acquisition of a Majority Interest in Welcome Break
Resumption in Trading on AIM and ESM from 8.00 a.m. Today
Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 24 October 2018
Applegreen, a major petrol forecourt retailer with operations in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States, is pleased to announce that, further to the Company’s announcement on 2 August 2018 (the “Transaction Announcement”), in relation to the proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Welcome Break (the “Transaction”), it expects to post to shareholders later today an AIM and ESM Admission Document (the “Admission Document”) and EGM Notice. The Admission Document, which, amongst other things, contains further information on Welcome Break and the Transaction, is currently available on the Company’s website at www.applegreenstores.com. As a result of the Company publishing the Admission Document, the Company’s Ordinary Shares are expected to resume trading on AIM and ESM with effect from 8.00 a.m. today.
In addition, further to Company’s intention to raise a minimum of €100 million to part fund the consideration for the Acquisition of Welcome Break as set out in the Transaction Announcement, the Company is pleased to announce that it has conditionally raised €175 million (c.£156 million) before expenses through the proposed issue of 28,782,895 New Ordinary Shares (the “Placing Shares”) at the Placing Price of €6.08 (543 pence) per Placing Share. Goodbody Stockbrokers and Shore Capital (the “Joint Bookrunners”) are acting as joint bookrunners to the Placing. Dealings in the Placing Shares on AIM and ESM are expected to commence on 25 October 2018. The Placing Price is at the suspension price of the Company’s Ordinary Shares on ESM on the date of the Acquisition Announcement.
The Placing was significantly oversubscribed and is fully underwritten by the Joint Bookrunners. Further detail on the Placing is set out below.
|
Placing Statistics |
|
|
Placing Price per Placing Share |
€6.08 (543 pence)(1) |
|
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately prior to the Placing |
91,713,158 |
|
Number of New Ordinary Shares being offered pursuant to the Placing |
28,782,895 |
|
Number of Ordinary Shares in issue immediately following Admission |
120,496,053 |
|
New Ordinary Shares as a percentage of the Enlarged Share Capital |
c.23.9 per cent. |
|
Estimated gross proceeds of the Placing for the Company |
€175 million (c.£156 million)(1) |
|
Market capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price following Admission(2) |
€732.6 million (£654.1 million)(1) |
|
AIM/ESM ticker |
APGN |
|
International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) |
IE00BXC8D038 |
|
Stock Exchange Daily Office List for ESM (SEDOL) |
BXC8D03 |
|
Stock Exchange Daily Official List for AIM (SEDOL) |
BYZG2B5 |
|
Legal Entity Identifier |
635400C4XYHVIFHDZH17 |
|
FISN Number |
APPLEGRN/SHS VTG FPD EUR0.01 |
|
CFI Code |
ESVUFR |
(1) For reference purposes only, the following exchange rates were prevailing as at the Latest Practicable Date: £1.00: € 1.12.
(2) Based on the Enlarged Share Capital and the Placing Price per New Ordinary Share.
The Transaction and Placing are conditional upon, amongst other things, the approval of Shareholders. Accordingly, Applegreen is convening an extraordinary general meeting, to be held at the Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, D04 P3C3, Ireland at 10 a.m. on 24 October 2018. The EGM Notice is set out at the end of the Admission Document which is expected to be sent to Shareholders later today.
Commenting on the Placing, Bob Etchingham, CEO of Applegreen said:
“We are delighted with the very strong support and encouragement received from existing shareholders and from new investors for the Welcome Break transaction and related Placing. This acquisition is transformational for our company in the strategically important UK market and we look forward to completion at the end of October. Building a wide and high quality investor base in parallel with expanding our business across chosen markets are core objectives and this transaction and associated equity raise significantly advances that strategy”
For further information, please contact: