STJ advised a consortium of investment funds on their €450 million sell-down of shares in Ayvens

This represented the first trade by the consortium since the combination between ALD and Leaseplan. STJ has had a long-standing relationship with TDR around the asset, including on the IPO process for Leaseplan in 2015, the combination with ALD and the rights issue in 2022, and ongoing advice around management of the consortium stake since then.

STJ’s advice transformed the nature and result of the placement achieving results not available to Selling Shareholders or the banks alone.

The accelerated bookbuilt transaction priced at €8.60, raising a total of €450m of proceeds for the consortium. The block represented c. 143 days trading on the local line and priced at a 5.7% discount to last close and 1.9% discount to the 1-month VWAP (with Ayvens having hit a 20-month high of €9.13 post results earlier in late April).

The transaction was launched through a staggered wall-crossing process, starting with one large anchor that took c. 50% of the deal, ahead of a broader wall-crossing, completely de-risking the transaction against a backdrop of highly volatile markets. A carefully targeted 1-day wall-cross with a select group of long only and hedge fund investors resulted in a book of demand fully allocable and oversubscribed within 15 minutes of launch. The transaction was subsequently upsized to reflect a multiple times oversubscribed book.  Allocations were skewed to long-only investors taking c. 85% of the deal. Ayvens’ shares closed c. 1% above the placement price, having hovered 3-4% up from issue through the day on controlled but elevated volumes.

Ayvens, formerly known as ALD Automative | Leaseplan, is listed on Euronext Paris with a market cap of c. €7.3bn and is a Full-Service Leasing and Fleet Management Group with a managed fleet of 3.3 million vehicles operating directly in 41 countries and indirectly in a further 16 additional countries.