Romania's Electrica IPO to cost EUR 15 to 18 mln, most money go to brokers

The total costs related to Romanian electricity holding Electrica’s initial public offering (IPO) are estimated between EUR 15 million and EUR 18 million, according to information in the IPO prospectus. The prospectus, which is 511 pages long, was published on Thursday, June 12, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) web page as well as on the company's corporate web page. The final costs depend on the actual amount the company will get in the IPO, which is between a minimum of EUR 435 million and a maximum of EUR 533 million. The company will sell 177.19 million shares which represent 51 percent of its capital. The price range is RON 11 to 13.5 per share. The offering will take place simultaneously on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). For the London listing, a part of the offering will be structured in Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), with one GDR standing for four Electrica shares. The brokerage consortium that manages the offering will get a 2.77 percent fee which will be applied to the sum to be raised in the IPO. This is between EUR 12 million and EUR 14.7 million. This will be split among the members of the consortium, with Citigroup, Raiffeisen Bank Romania and Societe Generale as global coordinators and joint book-runners, BRD Groupe Societe Generale as local manager and brokerage firm Swiss Capital as distribution agent. Six local and international law firms also worked on this offering, with Allen & Overy and Radu Taracila Padurari Retevoescu (RTPR) as legal counsels for the company, Paul Hastings and Musat & Asociatii for the consortium and Clifford Chance and Clifford Chance Badea for the depository bank for the GDRs, which is The Bank of New York Mellon. KPMG provided the independent audit. Other costs are with the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the Romanian Central Depository, the Financial Supervision Authority (ASF), but also costs related to the London listing. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com