Fondul Proprietatea SA (PK) (FDLPF) Quote

Romania's Hidroelectrica tops $10 billion valuation in 'historic' IPO (7/05/23)

BUCHAREST, July 5 (Reuters) - Romanian energy producer Hidroelectrica's IPO has been priced at 104 lei ($22.87) per share, it said on Wednesday, implying a market capitalisation of $10.3 billion in what a government minister described as a "historic success."

The pricing of the initial public offering, Europe's largest so far this year, was around the middle of an indicated range of 94-112 lei.

"We are happy to see the strong investor interest which has driven a successful outcome," said Chief Executive Bogdan Badea. The stock will start trading on July 12 on the Bucharest bourse.

The sale included existing shares held by Fondul Proprietatea (FP.BX), a fund managed by U.S. asset manager Franklin Templeton (BEN.N). Including an over-allotment option, it amounts to Fondul's entire 19.94% stake.

The government will retain its 80% holding in the country's largest energy producer, which has power capacity of 6.3 gigawatts from 182 hydroelectric plants.

While plans to list the company have been discussed for over a decade, an IPO was ultimately required by the EU as part of a deal to unlock post-pandemic recovery funds.

"We are talking about an event awaited for more than 10 years, as well as the biggest listing in the history of the Bucharest Stock Exchange," Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said in a statement.

"This historic success of listing Hidroelectrica shows that it was the right choice," he said.

Hidroelectrica's announcement comes as two other European firms move to complete IPOs this week: ThyssenKrupp's (TKAG.DE) hydrogen unit Nucera and British money transfer group CAB Payments.

Bankers hope this sudden wave of listings after a prolonged drought will encourage other European corporates to go public later this year and into 2024. The performance of the shares once they start trading will be watched closely.

Hidroelectrica's placement was multiple times oversubscribed, with 80% of shares going to institutional investors. More than a quarter of the shares were allocated to domestic institutions ahead of launch.

Last year Hidroelectrica's adjusted EBITDA margin hit 64% of revenue, twice the 30% margin reported by Austria's Verbund (VERB.VI), its closest competitor. Verbund's shares have lost more than a fifth of their value on the Vienna Stock Exchange in the past 12 months.

Verbund is one of Europe's largest generators of electricity from hydropower.

($1 = 4.5483 lei)

Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest and Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London; additional reporting by Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Editing by David Goodman

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/romanias-hidroelectrica-tops-10-bln-valuation-historic-ipo-2023-07-05/

Hidroelectrica IPO, a key condition for Romania to access EU funds (6/16/23)

https://bnn.network/finance-nav/business/hidroelectrica-ipo-a-key-condition-for-romania-to-access-eu-funds/

Anchorage Capital Group owns 9,814,587 GDRs (9/19/18)

Controls 6.70 percent.

https://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/files/live/sites/fondul/files/en/investor-reports/2018/Disclosure%20of%20holdings%20over%205%25_Anchorage%20Capital%20Group.pdf

Citi Appointed Depositary Bank for OMV Petrom’s GDR Programme (10/21/16)

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citi’s Issuer Services business, acting through Citibank N.A., has been appointed by OMV Petrom S.A. (“OMV Petrom”), the largest oil and gas group in Southeastern Europe, as depositary bank for its Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) Programme. OMV Petrom’s GDRs are listed and trade on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the symbol “PETB” for the Regulation S GDRs and “PETR” for the Rule 144A GDRs, with each GDR equivalent to one hundred and fifty (150) ordinary shares. OMV Petrom’s ordinary shares are also listed and trade on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) under the symbol “SNP”.

Mr. Andreas Matje, CFO at OMV Petrom, commented, "OMV Petrom is pleased to work with one of the leading depositary banks in the world, with a proven track record and with whom we developed a longstanding relationship across various products."

“Citi is delighted to be appointed by OMV Petrom as depositary bank for its LSE Listed GDR Programme,” said Dirk Jones, Global Head of Issuer Services, at Citi. “We look forward to working closely with OMV Petrom, leveraging our global equity distribution network and providing best-in-class service to assist them in fulfilling their goals.”

For more information on Citi’s Depositary Receipt Services, visit www.citi.com/dr.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About OMV Petrom

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated oil and gas group in Southeastern Europe, with an annual oil and gas production of approximately 65 mn boe in 2015. The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 mn tons / year and operates an 860 MW high efficiency power plant and a 45 MW wind park. The group is present on the oil products retail markets in Romania and neighbouring countries through 784 filling stations, as at 30 June 2016.

For more information please visit:

https://www.omvpetrom.com

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161020006022/en/Citi-Appointed-Depositary-Bank-OMV-Petrom%E2%80%99s-GDR

Contacts

Citi PR contact:
Aurelie Leonard
T: +44 207 500 4012
E: aurelie.leonard@citi.com
or
OMV Petrom Investor Enquiries:
Adriana Marin
T : +40 372 161 930
E : investor.relations.petrom@petrom.com

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161020006022/en/Citi-Appointed-Depositary-Bank-OMV-Petrom%E2%80%99s-GDR

Romanian Fondul Proprietatea reduces share capital by almost EUR 135 mln (9/12/16)

Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea will reduce its share capital by over EUR 134.8 million, to EUR 1.9 billion, by cancelling some 712 million own shares acquired through the sixth repurchase program.

The decision was made yesterday by the fund’s Extraordinary General Shareholders Meeting. The capital will now be divided into 10 billion shares with a nominal share of RON 0.85 per share, according to Fondul Proprietatea.

Fund manager Franklin Templeton also got the shareholders’ approval for another share buyback program targeting 10% of the fund’s own shares and global depository receipts (GDRs). The repurchase will be carried out at a price that can’t be lower than RON 0.2 per share or higher than RON 2 per share.

Fondul Proprietatea’s shares were trading at RON 0.804 yesterday. In recent years, the fund’s main strategy has been to sell assets and use the money for buying back its own shares.

http://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-fondul-proprietatea-reduces-share-capital-almost-eur-135-mln/

Greg Konieczny: Romania, the most attractive border market in Eastern Europe (9/05/16)

Romania is the most attractive border market in Eastern Europe, because it offers assessment "bargains", high-yield shares and good perspectives for IPOs of state-owned, but also private companies, Greg Konieczny, manager of Fondul Proprietatea investment fund, said. He made the statements in an interview published on Executive Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group Mark Mobius' blog. 

"From all Eastern European border markets, the most attractive, from our point of view, is Romania. It offers assessment bargains, high-yield shares and good perspectives IPOs for state-owned, but also private companies. The GDP had a strong evolution in the last couple of years, and in the first semester of 2016 it was up 5 percent, which makes Romania the fastest growing economy in the EU", said Konieczny. 

He reminded that Fondul Proprietatea was created in order to compensate Romanians who lost their property confiscated during the communist regime. 

The fund is the biggest closed investment fund in the region, and after its listing in London, it became the fifth biggest fund on its market. What makes it unique, with Romania still a border market, is its size in terms of current assets compared to the local capital market. The fund owns minor participations to some of the most important and biggest state-owned and private Romanian energy and infrastructure companies. Over half of its portfolio is made up of unlisted companies, so Fondul Proprietatea offers an interesting exposure on those companies and on Romania", the Executive Chairman of of Templeton Emerging Markets Group assessed. 

http://actmedia.eu/financial-and-banking/greg-konieczny-romania-the-most-attractive-border-market-in-eastern-europe/65522

Fondul Proprietatea to proceed with a partial sale of its shares in OMV Petrom by a secondary public offering (9/26/16)

Fondul Proprietatea announces that, as part of its ongoing commitment to increase value for its shareholders and to improve the liquidity of the assets in the Fund portfolio, the Fund has taken a decision to proceed with a partial sale of its ownership interest in OMV Petrom.

The sale will go via a public offering of both shares and global depositary receipts representing interests in the existing shares of the OMV Petrom with the GDRs intended to be admitted to listing on the standard segment of the official list of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange main market for listed securities (subject to satisfying certain eligibility criteria).

The Fund currently holds approximately 19 per cent of the issued share capital of OMV Petrom (representing 22.87 per cent of the Fund NAV as at 31 August 2016) and aims to enhance the trading liquidity of the company shares while remaining committed as a long term core shareholder to its successful development; Also, shareholders of OMV Petrom S.A confirmed, by means of a decision of the shareholders assembly, their support for the Company's GDRs to be admitted to listing on the Official List of the UK FCA and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market, in addition to the existing listing of its ordinary shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange;

The offering is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016, subject to market conditions, approval of the Prospectus by the Romanian Financial Supervision Authority and the confirmation of the UK Listing Authority regarding the eligibility of the Company for admission to the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority;

In relation to the offering, Goldman Sachs International is acting as Sole Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner and Banca Comerciala Romana, Erste Group and WOOD&Company are acting as Joint Bookrunners.

OMV Petrom is the largest integrated oil and gas group in SouthEastern Europe, with an annual oil and gas production of approximately 65 mn boe in 2015. The Group has a refining capacity of 4.5 mn tons/year and operates an 860 MW high efficiency power plant and a 45 MW wind park. The Group is present on the oil products retail markets in Romania and neighbouring countries through 784 filling stations, as at 30 June 2016.

http://www.thediplomat.ro/articol.php?id=7433

June 2016 Factsheet

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/fp_factsheet_30_june_2016.pdf

Fondul Proprietatea salutes the appointment of Salrom's new board and hopes for a prompt decision to list (7/12/16)

Bucharest, 12 July 2016 – Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited United Kingdom Bucharest Branch, in its capacity as Investment Manager of Fondul Proprietatea SA (“the Fund”), welcomes the appointment of a new Board of Administration at Salrom, in accordance with the corporate governance principles as stated by the Government Emergency Ordinance (“OUG”) 109/2011. The decision was taken during the General Shareholders Meeting that took place on July 8.

“We would like to congratulate the Ministry of Economy for the successful appointment of a new Board of Administration at Salrom, following a transparent process, in line with corporate governance standards set by OUG 109/2011. We hope that the new board will promptly select a new general manager, who should propose and implement a sustainable development plan, including the medium and long term strategy for the company, while improving the company’s financial results”, Greg Konieczny, Portfolio Manager of Fondul Proprietatea, commented.

He also added: “Furthermore, we hope that the new board will present to the shareholders a proposal for listing Salrom through an IPO, which would be highly beneficial for both the company and its current and future shareholders. The company’s listing is, in our opinion, the next important decision to be taken by the Ministry of Economy in order to ensure the continuity of Salrom’s success.”

Fondul Proprietatea strongly encourages the Ministry to support this IPO due to its multiple advantages, such as increased transparency, better management accountability and higher visibility for the company. At the same time, Salrom’s IPO would contribute to the increase in the liquidity of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, thus helping in supporting the development of the local capital market.

Fondul Proprietatea committed to supporting Salrom’s initial public offering, by cover all the costs related to the listing process, while also being the only seller and thus ensuring that the state remains the majority shareholder. According to this proposal, following the IPO, private institutional and retail investors, including the Fund, will own 49% of Salrom, while the state, through the Ministry of Economy, will remain with a 51% stake.

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/press_release_new_board_of_administration_at_salrom_3.pdf

Resuming the public tender offer process in relation to the acceleration of the sixth buy-back programme (7/05/16)

Franklin Templeton Investment Management Ltd. United Kingdom Bucharest Branch, in its capacity as Investment Manager (“the Investment Manager”) of Fondul Proprietatea SA (“the Fund”), would like to inform shareholders about the decision taken to resume the public tender offer process suspended in January 2016 due to the market conditions.

As such, the Investment Manager would like to inform shareholders that it has submitted today for approval to the Financial Supervisory Authority (the “FSA”) an application for a tender offer for cash of its own shares in relation to the sixth buy-back programme approved by the Shareholders’ Resolution no. 5/27 April 2015. The Investment Manager would also like to inform shareholders and investors that it has engaged Wood & Company Financial Services, A.S. as intermediary in relation to the purchase of shares and intends to engage Goldman Sachs International and Wood & Company Financial Services, A.S. as dealer managers and The Bank of New York Mellon as tender agent in relation to the purchase of global depositary receipts (“GDRs”). Under this tender offer, the Fund intends to repurchase up to 575,000,000 shares (both in the form of shares and GDRs) from its shareholders.

It is expected that full details of the tender offer, including pricing, will be announced if and when approval is received from the FSA, which is expected to occur within 10 business days according to the regulations in force.

In light of this development, the Fund would also like to report that the daily execution of the buy-back programme with respect to shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and GDRs on the London Stock Exchange has been suspended from 27 June 2016; any restart after the closing of the tender offer will be announced in due course.

Important disclaimer to shareholders and investors:

The filing of the application for the approval of the envisaged tender offer disclosed herein does not constitute a guarantee that the Fund will actually proceed with the Tender Offer; the Fund's decision to launch the Tender Offer will depend on several factors (including the market conditions and the approval of the Tender Offer documentation by the FSA).

If the Tender Offer proceeds, the tender and the purchase of the shares and GDRs will be carried out exclusively in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Tender Offer Document if and when published. The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. This announcement is not intended to, and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase, exchange or subscribe for any securities in any jurisdiction. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus or a prospectus equivalent document.

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/current_report_resumimg_of_tender_5_july_2016.pdf

Execution of a credit facility with BRD Groupe Societe Generale (7/04/16)

Franklin Templeton Investment Management Ltd. United Kingdom Bucharest Branch, in its capacity as Investment Manager of Fondul Proprietatea SA (“the Fund”), would like to inform shareholders and investors that the Fund has contracted today a revolving credit facility for a maximum committed amount of RON 1 billion from BRD Groupe Societe Generale.

The purpose of this credit facility is for general corporate use, including share buybacks, but excluding investments, and is meant to replace the previous financing arrangement concluded by the Fund with Citibank Europe Plc.

The availability period of the facility is for one year with the possibility to extend it with the same period.

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/curent_report_brd_facility.pdf

Fondul Proprietatea head: Hidroelectrica and OMV Petrom should list in London despite Brexit vote (7/04/16)

Following the vote regarding UK’s exit from EU, Greg Konieczny, executive vice-president of Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Group and fund manager of Fondul Proprietatea, made the following statement: “We maintain our strong support for listings on the London Stock Exchange, including the upcoming secondary listings of Hidroelectrica and OMV Petrom.”

“We are confident that London will keep its position of preeminent international market for issuers and investors on the long term and there are strong reasons to believe that London’s Stock Exchange will remain a globally important hub, regardless of the final terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, ” added Konieczny.

On LSE are listed over 500 international companies, with a combined market capitalisation of over USD 3.5 trillion, while it provides multiple market segments to suit companies of every size, sector and stage of development. London offers unique access to international investors (53 percent from UK, 29 percent from US and 15 percent from Europe) and is the leading IPO market in 2015, with 93 initial public offerings raising GBP 13.4 billion. However, 2016 has remained busy, with 36 IPOs amounting to GBP 2.6 billion since the beginning of the year. The average price performance post IPO to date is +11 percent, while over two thirds of these transactions are still above the initial price.

Fondul Proprietatea’s achievements following its secondary listing in April 2015 speak in terms of the benefits of listing local companies on the London Stock Exchange.

One year after listing on LSE, the Fund’s international institutional investor base has increased, while Fondul Proprietatea and Romania became more visible among international investors.

The GDR facility of one third of the outstanding shares has quickly reached its full capacity, showing the high interest of investors, and the percentage held by foreign institutional investors has grown from 53 percent to more than 60 percent in the total share capital of the Fund, added FP.

“Many of these investors have also become active investors in other Romanian companies, and should be key participants in the future IPOs from Romania. Moreover, the GDRs are currently traded at a 2.5 percent premium in London compared with the share price in Bucharest.”

Hidroelectrica got out of insolvency on June 21. Hidroelectrica was in insolvency since February 2014 for the second time.

OMV is already listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Georgiana Bendre

http://www.business-review.eu/uncategorized/fondul-proprietatea-head-hidroelectrica-and-omv-petrom-should-list-in-london-despite-brexit-vote-111443

Romanian Fondul Proprietatea sells stakes in E.ON’s local subsidiaries for undisclosed sum (6/30/16)

by Andrei Chirileasa

Romanian investment fund Fondul Proprietatea, which has EUR 2.5 billion net assets, has sold its stakes in the local subsidiaries of the German utilities group E.ON, namely E.ON Distributie Romania and E.ON Energie Romania.

The stakes were valued at EUR 140 million, or 5.3% of Fondul Proprietatea’s net asset value (NAV) at the end of 2015. The Fund’s manager, Franklin Templeton Investment Management, didn’t disclose the value of this deal.

“The Fund has undertaken confidentiality obligations customary to such transactions so full details of the deal cannot be disclosed, but ensures its shareholders that the transaction is in line with the objectives set out in the Investment Policy Statement,” reads the fund’s note to investors.

Fondul Proprietatea held 18.3% of E.ON Distributie Romania, a company that manages the gas distribution network in the northern half of the country and the electricity distribution grid in the Moldova region, and 13.4% of E.ON Energie Romania, which supplies natural gas and electricity to consumers in those areas.

E.ON Distributie had a turnover of EUR 362 million and a net profit of EUR 58.6 million, in 2015. E.ON Energie recorded sales of EUR 1.09 billion and a net profit of EUR 25.2 million.

Fondul Proprietatea likely accepted a discount to the value at which the two stakes were registered in its portfolio. Thus, the value of this deal may be in the vicinity of EUR 125 million, based on similar negotiations with state-owned electricity holding Electrica, in which Fondul Proprietatea was willing to sell its minority stakes in Electrica’s subsidiaries at a 9% discount to their fair value.

The deal with Electrica didn’t go through, as the group offered to buy the fund’s minority stakes at an 18% discount, which was deemed unacceptable by the fund manager.

The E.ON deal is the first important transaction that Fondul Proprietatea has carried outside the capital market. The Fund’s manager, Franklin Templeton, has made little progress so far in selling its unlisted minority stakes in energy distribution companies controlled by state-owned Electrica, Italian group Enel, and French Engie.

However, Fondul Proprietatea has sold big chunks of its listed stakes in state-owned energy companies such as gas producer Romgaz, gas transporter Transgaz, power grid operator Transelectrica, and in oil&gas group OMV Petrom. These transactions have been carried out on the stock market, via private placements.

Fondul Proprietatea had net assets of EUR 2.5 billion, as of June 9, 2016. Listed shares make some 30% of its NAV while the unlisted portfolio is more than twice bigger, at 64% of the NAV. Its biggest holdings are in OMV Petrom, power producer Hidroelectrica, and electricity distributor Enel Distributie Banat.

Fondul Proprietatea is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and London Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of EUR 1.75 billion. Its shares and GDRs are trading at a 33% discount to its NAV per share.

Romania’s Fondul Proprietatea gets EUR 121 mln for Romgaz stake

What is Romanian Fondul Proprietatea’s biggest challenge five years after its listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange?

http://www.romania-insider.com/fondul-proprietatea-sells-stakes-eon/

Disposal of E.ON Distributie Romania S.A. and E.ON Energie Romania S.A. holdings (6/29/16)

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/exit_eer_edro_.pdf

Fondul Proprietatea welcomes the insolvency exit of Hidrolectrica and calls for its swift IPO (6/21/16)

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/newsdocs/press_release_hidroelectrica_insolvency_exit_eng_2.pdf

Notification regarding the transactions performed during the buy-back program (4/25/16)

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/weekly_notification_buybacks_18_-_22_april_2016.pdf

Sale of 22,542,960 existing shares in S.N.G.N. ROMGAZ S.A. (4/20/16)

http://www.fondulproprietatea.ro/sites/default/files/current_report_abb_romgaz_21_april.pdf