Eni has sold a 10% stake in Italian contractor Saipem for €393 million ($425.6 million).The Milan-based oil company is under pressure to sell assets amid concerns over its debt, while investors also want the company to focus on its core businesses.In March this year, Eni said it planned to raise €8 billion of net proceeds from disposal of assets through to 2027.
Wednesday’s transaction means that the Italian major’s stake in Saipem has dropped by about one third, to just over 21%.The sale, which involved offloading close to 200 million ordinary shares at a price of €1.97 each, was launched on Tuesday evening and completed on Wednesday morning.Saipem’s stock price was up 2.45% at €2.12 in afternoon trading on Wednesday.
Following the placement, which was carried out through an accelerated bookbuilding aimed at institutional investors, Eni’s holding in Saipem has fallen to about 423 million shares, equivalent to 21.19% of its share capital.Of these retained shares, almost 250 million — which equates to about 12.5% of Saipem’s stock — are covered by a shareholders’ agreement with CDP Equity.
Eni agreed with the joint bookrunners not to sell additional Saipem stock for 180 days, subject to certain waivers.The placement was executed by a consortium of banks consisting of Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Intesa Sanpaolo, Natixis and UniCredit.
Source:https://www.upstreamonline.com