Eitzen private placement prior to IPO
September 22, 2006
Eitzen private placement prior to IPO. Check it out:(Lloyds List Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) AXEL Eitzen has ploughed ahead with raising $300m-$350m through a private share sale in his chemical tanker business prior to an Oslo listing.
The Norwegian entrepreneur has opted for the private placement after missing an application deadline for an initial public offering next month in Oslo.
'This is a timing issue,' Mr Eitzen told Lloyd's List.
'We did not get an application before the October board and decided to go-ahead.'
The Oslo shipowner said the issue would be followed by a full public listing by the beginning of November. Mr Eitzen revealed that the volume of financial work since the Songa takeover announcement four weeks ago had held up the submission.
'It was not possible to delay our investors,' he added.
Camillo Eitzen needs to raise new equity to fund its $1.28bn swoop last month on compatriot Arne Blystad's chemical carrier fleet.
The share issue is directed at institutional international and domestic professional investors with the subscription closing on September 26. The indicative price range has been set at between NKr27.60 and NKr31.50 a share, which is equivalent to around $4.25-$4.86.
The new equity will be trade- able on the over-the-counter list from the date of issue until Eitzen Chemical lists on the Oslo Bors.
Camillo Eitzen last month said it had until the end of October to complete the chemical tanker IPO needed to part fund the Songa purchase.
Camillo Eitzen will pay for the rest of the Songa acquisition through a separate $75-$100 bond issue and a credit facility with Nordea.
Carnegie and Pareto will manage the equity deal, with the bond issue advised by Nordea and Pareto.
The Oslo group closed the bond offering early on Wednesday due to 'substantial over-subscription' from investors.
The subscription period was to extend to September 29, with the allocation date set for October 4.
The group said that the application would be made for the bonds to list on the Oslo stock exchange or the Alternative Bond Market 'as soon as practically possible'.
The bond loan will have a floating interest rate of three months Nibor-Libor plus 3.5% with a five-year term.
Mr Eitzen added that, with the bond loan already fully committed, the group could concentrate on raising the equity.
Prior to the IPO, Camillo Eitzen will also sell its relevant activities to new legal entity Eitzen Chemical and in return take control of the newly issued shares.
Mr Eitzen estimates that after the share offer, the transfer of its chemical business and the Songa takeover the group will retain a 45%-48% stake in Eitzen Chemical, up from a previous range of between 40%-47%.
Norwegian shipowner Mr Blystad will also be paid in shares and cash with Eitzen Chemical taking over its outstanding debt.
The takeover of Songa Shipholding will increase the fleet to 81 chemical tankers, with an additional 38 newbuilds on order until 2010.
That will create one of the world's largest tanker companies with a market value of $725m-$836m and an enterprise value of some $2.4bn.
Copyright 2006 Informa Martime Trade and Transport
Related Tags: camillo eitzen, eitzen chemical, private placement, Eitzen, eitzen, chemical
Cosmos
Del.icio.us
Slashdot
Digg
BoingBoing
Furl
Spurl
Listed below are links to sites that reference Eitzen private placement prior to IPO:
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for Eitzen private placement prior to IPO:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/cgi-bin/mt3/mt-tb.fcgi/27437Previous blog: Denver-based MapQuest to shed its publishing business
VoIP for Enterprise Home PageComments to Eitzen private placement prior to IPO
