Greenstone bond issue oversubscribed at $147 million

Greenstone Energy’s retail bond issue has closed, having raised $147 million, including $47 million in oversubscriptions. The funds will be used to repay bank debt. Greenstone is the New Zealand company which in April acquired the retail and distribution assets of Shell New Zealand. Greenstone is jointly owned by Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

Greenstone Chief Executive Mike Bennetts said he was pleased with very strong investor support for the issue and for Greenstone Energy.

“We have seen a real enthusiasm from investors choosing to take a direct stake in our business.

“Through the support of investors, the strength of our Kiwi ownership has been reinforced, our funding lines restructured to provide greater flexibility and we are uniquely positioned to grow Greenstone into a world-class company,” he said. Mike Bennetts said the strong backing from the investment community mirrored the support from consumers for a large new Kiwi company.

“Our first five months have seen increasing numbers of customers actively choosing to support us and our challenge is to continue to earn that support and reward it,” he said.

“People like the fact that a new company, owned by Kiwis, has invested in significant national energy infrastructure during a period of industry consolidation.” Mike Bennetts said the New Zealand fuels sector was going through a fundamental restructure, with some international companies having left or looking to leave New Zealand.

He said the success of the Greenstone retail bond issue and the backing of the company’s shareholders would enable Greenstone to continue to invest in the infrastructure needed to safely and reliably meet the country’s fuel requirements. Joint Lead Managers on the issue - ANZ and First NZ Capital - were also very pleased with the final outcome which they described as further vindication of the strength of the New Zealand retail debt capital markets.

"The Greenstone issue is a pleasing continuation of a trend of new corporate issuers coming to market seeking access to longer dated funding," said Chris O'Neale, Director Debt Capital Markets, ANZ.

David Smith, Director Investment Banking, First NZ Capital agreed. "From an investor’s perspective Greenstone provides new name diversification, access to a new infrastructure industry segment and supports its New Zealand ownership."

Support for the issue was reflected in the broad retail distribution by NZX brokers and banks with institutional investors also participating.

Since Greenstone acquired the Shell retail business in April, the company has created 40 new jobs, including bringing a call centre back to New Zealand from the Philippines, built and commissioned a new commercial truck refuelling facility, started construction of two new multi-million dollar service stations which are due for completion in October, and announced a third retail service station development.

ENDS