In comparison, Petrom closed at RON0.46 on Tuesday, before the announcement about the start of a bookbuild offering, which means Fondul Proprietatea sold at a 7.4% discount. Such discounts come with high value stakes, especially since the bookbuild offering was completed in just a few hours.
The buyers were mainly Pillar II private pension funds, Ziarul Financiar found, which have been the traditional buyers of the accelerated bookbuild offerings of Fondul Proprietatea with Petrom shares. The latest data (October 2022) show the seven Pillar II funds to own 14% in Petrom, which accounts for an investment of RON3.6 billion, the largest in their stock portfolios.
Announced after the close of the trading session on Tuesday, the intent to sell the remaining Petrom stock came to a conclusion early Wednesday morning: “1,78 billion ordinary shares representing the entire holding of Fondul Proprietatea in OMV Petrom S.A. placed with investors following completion of an accelerated bookbuild offering launched on December 13, 2022.”
Fondul Proprietatea says the gross proceeds of the transaction amount to about RON764.1 million and will be used to implement the Fund’s Discount Control Mechanism as set out in the Fund’s Investment Policy Statement, by funding the buyback program, as approved by the Fund’s shareholders and/or the payment of potential dividends to the Fund’s shareholders, in the absence of exceptional market conditions or circumstances, and subject to any restrictions under Romanian legal or tax regulations and to shareholders’ approval.
Erste Group Bank and Swiss Capital acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, and BCR and Auerbach Grayson and Company LLC acted as joint bookrunners for the transaction.
Fondul Proprietatea has a RON12.4 billion capitalization, while Petrom about RON29 billion.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)