Privatization Romania: Transgaz SPO gets underway, government hopes to raise up to EUR 92 mln

One of the big planned privatizations of the year got underway yesterday (April 3 ) with the secondary public (SPO) of shares in the national gas distribution company Transgaz. The share offer is open until April 16 and 15 percent of the Transgaz stock is available. The sale is among those demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has extended Romania's current Standby Arrangement to allow the country to meet outstanding objectives.

The Romanian government has approved a price range for institutional investors from a minimum RON 171/share to a maximum RON 230 RON/share (EUR 38.66 – EUR 52/share). A total of 1.7 million shares are on offer, suggesting that the sale could raise between EUR 68 million and EUR 92 million. The SPO is reportedly the first in Romania to comply with international standards and practices and includes three subscription tranches: for institutional investors – 85 percent of the offered shares, for large subscriptions – 8 percent of shares and for small investors 7 percent of offered shares, with the possibility to modify all three levels. Transgaz is already listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, with the closing share price on April 3 at RON 208 per share, and a capitalization of some EUR 564 million. Shares will be allocated to institutional investors according to several criteria, including quality feedback during the pre-marketing period, subscriptions made in the first days of the offering, subscribers’ investment horizon, subscriptions made at a price that is closest to the maximum price and subscription of a large number of shares. Both big and small investors are being offered shares at the maximum price of RON 230. Investors can register subscriptions through Raiffeisen Capital & Investment, BT Securities S.A., Raiffeisen Bank and Banca Transilvania branches mentioned in the Prospectus, as well as through any investment firm that is authorized to offer investment services through the Bucharest Stock Exchange and which has signed the agreement provided by Raiffeisen Capital & Investment. The Prospectus is available on the Raiffeisen Capital website. The Underwriting Syndicate is composed of S.S.I.F. Raiffeisen Capital & Investment S.A. (Lead Manager and Joint Bookrunner), Wood & Company Financial Services a.s., (Manager and Joint Bookrunner) and S.S.I.F. BT Securities S.A. (Manager). editor@romania-insider.com