Infratil to exit Z Energy holding in sale with NZ Super

Infratil to exit Z Energy holding in coordinated sale with NZ Super Fund

By Suze Metherell

Sept. 29 (BusinessDesk) - Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund will sell almost one third of Z Energy in a coordinated sale, rounding out a profitable five-year investment in the former Shell petrol station assets that were spruced up and listed on the NZX in 2013.

Infratil will sell its 20 percent cornerstone holding via an overnight book build process, offering 80 million shares at between $6 and $6.20, a discount to Z Energy's $6.63 record high closing price. NZ Super will sell its 9.73 percent, or 38.9 million shares, into the same book build, reducing its holding to just over 10 percent.

Wellington-based infrastructure investor Infratil with NZ Super raised $840 million when they sold 60 percent of Z via an initial public offering in 2013, with shares selling for $3.50 apiece. They bought the petrol station assets from Shell in 2010, and each retained a 20 percent stake.

From tonight’s sale, Infratil could earn between $480 million and $496 million, while NZ Super will raise up to $241 million.

Z is waiting on approval from the Commerce Commission on its bid to acquire Chevron New Zealand's service stations. The Wellington-based Z sees annual savings of between $25 million and $30 million from acquiring the Chevron assets, up from earlier estimates of $15 million to $25 million. The company also lowered the forecast cost of acquiring the Caltex and Challenge! branded chains to $55 million from $64 million, while saying any delay in the Nov. 30 cut-over date would add an extra $2 million a month.

Infratil and the NZ Super have appointed Deutsche Craigs New Zealand and Deutsche Bank Australia as book runners for the sale process. Infratil expects to announce the outcome of the book build process by Thursday morning.

Infratil shares closed down 1 percent to $3.04.

(BusinessDesk)

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