Hapag-Lloyd Cuts IPO Price Range

German container line Hapag-Lloyd will sell its shares in a price range of EUR 20 – 22, and not EUR 23 – 29 as the company originally planned to do through its initial public offering on the stock exchanges in Hamburg and Frankfurt set to commence on November 6.

Hapag-Lloyd said that due to ongoing market volatility, the company and its existing shareholders have decided to adjust the price range and the offer structure in the course of the IPO.

The original offering consisted of a total of up to 15,721,035 shares of Hapag-Lloyd, including an offering of up to 11,503,197 new shares from a capital increase.

Under the adjusted offer structure, the number of shares from the capital increase has been increased to up to 13,228,677 shares that Hapag-Lloyd will sell based on the offer price, and will be such number of shares as is necessary to still provide the company with gross proceeds of approximately USD 300 million.

Up to 1,984,301 further shares from the holdings of TUI-Hapag Beteiligungs GmbH, which holds a 13.9% share in the company, will be offered to cover potential over allotments. The new offer structure does not provide TUI with an additional shares placement option. TUI initially planned to sell up to 4.2 million of its existing shares in the company.

The adjusted offering now consists of a total of up to 15,212,978 shares of the company. The new total offering size, including primary proceeds for Hapag-Lloyd and potential over allotments, can amount up to approximately USD 345 million.

This would imply a free float of up to 18 per cent across the price range, including existing Hapag-Lloyd shareholders with an ownership of below 5 per cent.

The company’s core shareholders – Kühne Maritime (20.8%) and Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores, or CSAV (34%) – have reiterated their cornerstone orders of USD 30 million each.

The supplement to the IPO prospectus indicating the amended terms of issue still requires approval from the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), which is expected during the course of today.

The offer period for the new shares had previously been extended until November 3, 2015.