Wizz Air Holdings Plc £249 million Sale of Shares, UK
2017
We are pleased to report that STJ advised Indigo Partners on its first follow-on offering of shares in Wizz Air Holdings Plc, a leading low-cost Eastern European airline company. The transaction raised gross proceeds of over £249m via the sale of c.10.7 million ordinary shares, representing 18.7% of the company and allowed Indigo to monetise its entire holding of common shares. Indigo will continue to own Convertible Shares and Convertible Notes linked to ordinary shares, which represent 54.6% of the fully diluted share capital.
STJ has been advising Indigo on its monetisation alternatives since 2015. Following a period of strong share price performance post the release of March 2017 full year results and a well received and extensive management roadshow, STJ advised on this accelerated bookbuild offering. The placing utilised a syndicate of the 3 IPO banks as Bookrunners and a non-IPO syndicate bank as an additional placement agent to maximise investor demand.
The placing launched shortly after market close, ahead of the FOMC meeting that evening, and saw significant early momentum led by key UK and US institutional investors. It was oversubscribed within 30 minutes, with final pricing coming at £23.20 per share above the bottom of the original marketing range. The placement price represents a tight discount of 4.3% to the market closing price, which was an all-time high for the shares, having gained c.31% over the last 12 months. Furthermore, the placing came at a significant +102% premium to the IPO price of £11.50 in February 2015.
STJ advised on all key aspects of the offering including timing, syndicate selection, sizing, pricing, foreign exchange considerations and allocations. This transaction is the 7th UK ABB STJ has advised on this year, making STJ the most active independent advisor in the UK ABB market in 2017.
