TALLINN - The Tallinn Stock Exchange has decided to accept an application by AS Tallinna Vesi (Tallinn Water) to list shares on the exchange's main list. Company managers, including CEO Bob Gallienne, in the meantime began a Europe-wide roadshow in Vienna on May 17 to spark investor interest.
The company is offering 5,454,546 A shares, or one-fifth of outstanding stock, of which 1.2 million will be offered to local investors. The announced price range is 125.17 's 160.38 kroons (8.0 - 10.25 euros).
"The price range of the shares has been agreed upon and as the next step the roadshow for international institutional investors in various European financial centers will begin. A public offering of shares to local retail investors starts at the same time," Gallienne told the Baltic News Service.
The listing should be welcomed by both investors and exchange operators, both of whom were dealt a blow after Swedbank recently decided to pull Hansapank off the market. Trading on Hansapank shares traditionally accounted for the lion's share of turnover on Estonia's stock exchange.
Tallinn Water's prospectus, the water supply and sewage discharge service company serving the capital, was published May 16. The IPO and listing should take place in late-May-early June.
Managers of an initial public offering of shares in Tallinn Water will be paid a fee of 3.5 percent of the receipts from the sale for managing and securing the offering and placing the shares.
Tallinn Water is 49.6 percent owned by the city of Tallinn and 50.4 by United Utilities Tallinn. If the new shares as well as the more than half a million additional shares are purchased, the city's stake will be 34.7 percent and that of United Utilities Tallinn's 35.3 percent.
Pursuant to its agreement with TSE, the company must conclude a market-making agreement with a trading member 's one that will provide sufficient liquidity for the shares during a period of at least one year after the shares begin trading.
