EDP Renováveis. One hour, 100 investors, 1.5 billion
EDPR's capital increase was concluded in less than an hour and attracted more than 100 investors. "The receptivity of investors to the strategic plan was exceptional," Miguel Azevedo told ECO News.
EDP Renováveis carried out a capital increase operation of 1.5 billion euros to finance the group’s strategic plan until 2025, which corresponded to 88,250,000 new shares sold at 17 euros per share. And the operation was completed in just one hour after the formal launch on the market, a source who accompanied the process revealed to ECO News. EDP reduced its shareholder position in EDPR to 75%, but the company that is the star of the group now has, at that moment, over 100 new investors.
The operation, announced last week, had a defined profile: “Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG (“Citi”) and Morgan Stanley Europe SE (“Morgan Stanley”) have been mandated by EDPR to launch an offering of EDPR shares via an accelerated bookbuild targeting gross proceeds of 1.5 billion euros,” revealed the Portuguese company, and the targets of the operation were institutional investors, such as hedge funds and long-only funds.
The ‘homework’ was done in the previous two days, in a virtual road-show. But the fact that EDP raised at the end of last year 1 billion euros to buy Viesgo in Spain, and the fact that the deal came to the market in a week when shares in the sector’s companies fell over 3%/4% on Tuesday and 4%/6% on Wednesday made it riskier. “Investor receptivity to the new strategic plan was exceptional and this alone, combined with EDP and EDPR’s great execution capacity, allowed us to make a placement of this size in a market that has been undergoing a downward adjustment due to rising interest rates,” Miguel Azevedo, head of investment banking at Citi for the Middle East and Africa, told ECO News.
After the capital increase was placed, Renováveis shares fell on the stock exchange. After a tumble of almost 10% on the day it carried out a capital increase, the renewable energy company’s shares are falling this Thursday. “If we look at the performance this week of companies in the renewable energy sector, we see EDPR has evolved absolutely in line with the sector, despite having made the largest accelerated bookbuild of the year,” signals Miguel Azevedo.
Both EDP and EDP Renováveis “will be subject to a lock-up of 180 days from delivery of the new shares under the Capital Increase, subject to market standard exemptions,” the company revealed in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM). In other words, for half a year, neither EDP nor EDP Renováveis will be able to sell the shares.
