Shares expected to begin trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange tomorrow, 18 March 2021
· Placement of 95,833,334 shares (including 12,500,000 shares to cover over-allotments) resulting in gross proceeds to Vodafone of €2.3 billion (assuming the greenshoe is exercised in full)
· The successful offering implies a market capitalisation of Vantage Towers of €12.1 billion
· The IPO represents a significant milestone for Vantage Towers as the company continues its commercial focus on deploying the full potential of its market leading tower infrastructure to serve the increasing demand for connectivity across Europe
Nick Read, Chief Executive of Vodafone Group, said:
“This IPO unlocks value for our shareholders: it demonstrates the value of our towers assets in a 5G world, sets up Vantage Towers to unlock its full potential as a focused independent tower operator, with the proceeds reducing Group debt. Eighteen months ago we started the carve out of Vantage Towers as part of our strategy to improve returns on our assets. We have moved at pace and today's successful IPO is the culmination of all that hard work .
The strategy to reshape Vodafone to create sustainable stakeholder value continues.”
Vivek Badrinath, Vantage Towers Chief Executive, commented:
“We have had great engagement with investors and we are pleased with the successful completion of the offering. The IPO is an important milestone and sets the foundations for the next stage of Vantage Towers' growth within the dynamic towers sector. Our commercial focus, superior grid and strong balance sheet means we are well-placed to capture these opportunities.”
Vodafone Group Plc and Vodafone GmbH (“Vodafone Germany” and together with Vodafone Group Plc, “Vodafone”) in consultation with Vantage Towers AG (“Vantage Towers”) and the underwriters have set a final offer price of €24.00 per share for existing ordinary registered shares with no par value (the “Shares”) offered in Vantage Towers' initial public offering (the “IPO”). In total, Vodafone is placing 95,833,334 Shares (including 12,500,000 Shares to cover over-allotments) in the IPO, amounting to a total placement of up to €2.3 billion based on the offer price (assuming the greenshoe is exercised in full). The Shares placed represent 18.9% of Vantage Towers' issued and outstanding share capital. Based on the offer price, Vantage Towers' total market capitalisation amounts to approximately €12.1 billion. Vodafone will use the net proceeds from the placing to pay down debt.
Trading of the Shares on the Regulated Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard) is expected to commence tomorrow, 18 March 2021, under the trading symbol “VTWR”, German Securities Code (WKN) A3H 3LL and ISIN: DE000A3H3LL2.
Vantage Towers, Vodafone Germany and Digital Colony, a cornerstone investor, have each agreed to a lock-up period of 180 calendar days, subject to certain customary exceptions.
IPO Syndicate
BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley and UBS are acting as Joint Global Co-ordinators and Joint Bookrunners, and Barclays, Berenberg, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies are acting as Joint Bookrunners.
About Vantage Towers
Vantage Towers is a leading towers company in Europe with approximately 82,000 macro sites in 10 countries, connecting people, businesses and devices in cities and rural areas.
The company was founded in 2020. Its headquarters is in Düsseldorf, Germany. Vantage Towers' portfolio includes towers, masts, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells. By building, operating and leasing this passive infrastructure to Vodafone and other network operators, Vantage Towers is making a significant contribution to better connectivity and the sustainable digitisation of Europe.
For more information, please visit our website at www.vantagetowers.com , follow us on Twitter at @VantageTowers or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/vantagetowers .
As of 31 December 2020, Vantage Towers had gross assets of €10.4 billion. For the financial year ended 31 March 2020, Vantage Towers had profit before taxation of €417 million (on a pro forma basis as outlined in the prospectus).
About Vodafone
Vodafone is a leading telecommunications company in Europe and Africa. Our purpose is to “connect for a better future” and our expertise and scale gives us a unique opportunity to drive positive change for society. Our networks keep family, friends, businesses and governments connected and – as COVID-19 has clearly demonstrated – we play a vital role in keeping economies running and the functioning of critical sectors like education and healthcare.
Vodafone is the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe and a leading global IoT connectivity provider. Our M-Pesa technology platform in Africa enables over 45 million people to benefit from access to mobile payments and financial services. We operate mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries and partner with mobile networks in 48 more. As of 31 December 2020 we had over 300 million mobile customers, more than 27 million fixed broadband customers, over 22 million TV customers and we connected more than 118 million IoT devices.
We support diversity and inclusion through our maternity and parental leave policies, empowering women through connectivity and improving access to education and digital skills for women, girls, and society at large. We are respectful of all individuals, irrespective of race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, belief, culture or religion.
Vodafone is also taking significant steps to reduce our impact on our planet by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025 and becoming net zero by 2040, purchasing 100% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025, and reusing, reselling or recycling 100% of our redundant network equipment.
References to Vodafone in this section are to Vodafone Group Plc and references to Vodafone Group are to Vodafone Group Plc and its subsidiaries unless otherwise stated.