Vista Alegre increases capital by 15 million euros. Shares suspended on the stock exchange

VAA – Vista Alegre Atlantis will make a capital increase of 15 million euros. The sale of shares with an indicative price between 1 and 1.15 euros will take place with private investors this Wednesday and Thursday, according to the statement sent by the company to the market. The Portuguese regulator (CMVM) has suspended trading of the shares on the Lisbon Stock Exchange.

“The subscription of the capital increase will be made as part of a private offer to qualified investors, to be held on 4 and 5 December 2019, of 15,240,914 new ordinary, book-entry and nominative shares, representing approximately 10% of the company’s current share capital,” announced the company, in a statement to the CMVM.

Each new share to be issued will be subscribed for an amount between 1.00 and 1.15 euros, with a minimum subscription of 100 thousand euros and the final price will be determined after the offer period. Vista Alegre stresses that the capital increase and the supply are subject to demand, price and market conditions.

“In the event of an incomplete subscription, the capital increase is limited to the subscriptions collected and accepted by the company, provided that and only if a minimum of 10,668,640 new shares are actually subscribed, equivalent to around 7% of the current share capital (if this does not occur, the capital increase and the offer will be void)”, he explains.

Thus, the goal is to sell over 15.2 million new shares, which in the maximum price range may represent a capital increase of 17.5 million euros. If only the minimum number for the offer is subscribed and at the lowest price, the capital increase could be 10.7 million euros. Less than that, the company cancels the offer.

Vista Alegre signed a placement agreement, without subscription guarantee, with CaixaBank, S.A. (as Global Coordinator), as well as with Caixa – Banco de Investimento, S.A., JB Capital Markets S.V., S.A.U. and Nau Securities Limited (as Co-Lead Managers). The securities will be admitted to trading on the Lisbon Stock Exchange, where the shares are now suspended.

The Board of Directors of the CMVM decided this morning to suspend trading in the shares of VAA – Vista Alegre Atlantis – SGPS, “awaiting the disclosure of relevant information to the market”, the capital increase. Before the suspension, the shares closed the last session at 1.34 euros. T ongoing operation assumes a discount between 15% and 25%. If they trade again before the end of the operation, the securities may correct and approach the value that private investors are willing to pay in the offer.

This new operation, through an accelerated bookbuilding procedure and which could take the company’s capital to 134,120,048.00 euros, happens a year after Vista Alegre has failed a similar operation.

In December 2018, it intended to sell 21.77 million new shares, but dropped the operation due to the climate of tension in international markets. Subsequently, in October of this year, the company issued a bond issue of 50 million euros, which enabled it to settle a debt of around 40 million euros to Caixa Geral de Depósitos and BCP. These loans prevented Vista Alegre from paying dividends, so the expectation is that it will once again remunerate the shareholders.