STJ Advises Oaktree Capital on $127m Accelerated Bookbuilt Placement in Hafnia Limited
2023
We are pleased to announce that STJ advised funds managed by Oaktree on a $127m ABB sell down of shares in Hafnia Limited, one of the world's leading product tanker owners and operators.
The sale represents c.5% of the company and 21 days’ trading volume. Oaktree's stake in Hafnia following the transaction will be just below 5%.
The final placement price of NOK50 was a very tight 3.5% discount to the prior day’s close, which is roughly half the average discount for more recent ABB offerings and represents one of the lowest discounts achieved within this sector, where c.10%+ is the norm.
Pricing was 19% above the last sale in September 2022, also advised by STJ, against a share price (and sector) that has been very volatile over the last few months
The offering was structured as an accelerated fixed price offer to accommodate market conditions and was met with strong demand with books quickly covered with significant support from wall-crossed investors and those met since results.
The final book consisted of over 200 orders and was well oversubscribed, strongly anchored by high quality investors.
The success of the placement adds to STJ’s consistent and market-leading track record for advice on follow-ons, where we continue to pride ourselves on being able to advise on tactics to obtain sufficient visibility on demand as a pre-condition to launching the deal and de-risking the offering in volatile markets.
On this transaction, STJ:
- Further developed investor outreach and education since the last offering by engaging with a mix of domestic and international banks
- Advised on tactics to obtain sufficient visibility on demand ahead of launch to de-risk the offering
- Advised on an accelerated and targeted wall-crossing exercise, generating quality demand from both international and domestic accounts
- Advised on deal structuring, launch and bookbuilding tactics, to achieve a price of NOK50 during a period of downward pressure on the share price and sector (moving the dialogue away from discounts and towards the fundamentals of the stock)
- Reviewed the banks’ allocation proposal line-by-line to ensure a well allocated book and a stable aftermarket
- Deployed STJ’s proprietary Atlas Database to help identify investors most likely to buy Hafnia shares (and align individual bank accountability by investor/location) as well as to inform our recommendations on allocations
Overall, STJ provided critical advice around bank selection, fees, timing, deal structure, sizing and ultimate pricing tactics and allocations to achieve an optimal transaction in Hafnia for Oaktree.
