Global Ports Holding plc £17.4m Share Sale, UK
2018
STJ advised on a £17.4m sell-down in Global Ports Holding plc (“Global Ports” or the “Company”) by Global Yatırım Holding A.Ş. ("GIH"), which holds an aggregate interest in 65.63% of the voting shares in the Company. This is the first share offering by a Turkish-centric group since the election and was structured to enable an upsize of the base deal, with books covered within 30 minutes of launch. The transaction represented 21% of the Free Float of GPH and over 400 days of ADTV.
Global Ports plc is the largest independent cruise operator by number of ports and passenger volume with significant upside from further consolidation in a very fragmented market.
The transaction was launched just after the market close at £4.35, a 7.8% discount to the 30-day VWAP, on the back of significant visibility following a limited wall-crossing exercise and reverse enquiries. Wall-crossed investors included a mix of financial investors and cruise industry players. The deal was built around a key order from Centricus Partners LP, which holds c. 31% of the shares in GIH. The shadow book provided comfort to launch a transaction with indications in excess of the base deal size of 2.0m shares. Books were multiple times oversubscribed, enabling an upsize to 4.0m shares.
The book of demand was tightly allocated with a significant skew towards long-only investors and some key strategic/industrial players.
STJ had advised GPH on the IPO in May 2017.
This transaction is STJ’s 5th follow-on offering advised in 2018 and extends our significant track record of advising on post-IPO sell downs.