Corporate | 2 July 2007 11:14
EnviTec Biogas AG / IPO
Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory
AG.
The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
———————————————————————-
– Up to 5,160,000 shares to be offered, including greenshoe option
– Price to range from EUR 42 to EUR 52
– Free float after IPO and fully exercised greenshoe option at around 34.4
percent
– Subscription period probably to run from July 2 to 11, 2007
Lohne/Frankfurt, Germany, July 2, 2007 – EnviTec Biogas AG (ISIN:
DE000A0MVLS8, SIN: A0MVLS), headquartered in Lohne in the German state of
Lower Saxony, today announced that it plans to have its shares listed in
the Prime Standard segment of the Official Market of the Frankfurt Stock
Exchange from July 12, 2007. The company, which is Europe’s leading
provider of biogas plants with an installed electrical connected load of
approx. 65.6 megawatts (as of March 31, 2007), intends to offer up to
5,160,000 no-par value shares. Of these, up to 3,000,000 shares stem from a
capital increase against cash contributions. Up to 1,487,000 shares will be
provided by the company’s founding families, von Lehmden, Ruhe, and Schulz,
who currently hold all shares in EnviTec through their holding companies.
In addition, they will also offer up to 673,000 shares under a greenshoe
option. After the IPO, the founders will indirectly hold a stake of approx.
65.6 percent in EnviTec Biogas. Olaf von Lehmden, CEO of EnviTec Biogas AG,
comments: ‘Biogas offers excellent opportunities. And we are just at the
beginning.’ In the 2006 financial year, EnviTec Biogas generated
consolidated revenues of EUR 100.7 million and EBIT of EUR 18.5 million.
The positive development of the company’s business continued in 2007: In
the first quarter of 2007, EnviTec tripled its revenues to EUR 32.8 million
(Q1/2006: EUR 10.9 million). EBIT increased from EUR 0.8 million in the
first quarter of 2006 to EUR 5.9 million in the first quarter of 2007.
Dresdner Kleinwort will act as lead manager, and Berenberg Bank and WestLB
will act as co-lead managers of the IPO. The price range has been set at
EUR 42 to 52 per share. The roadshow will commence today.
Use of funds
EnviTec intends to use the proceeds from the IPO to step up the
construction of biogas plants especially outside of Germany and to
self-operate more proprietary biogas plants together with partners in other
countries. Already today, EnviTec is represented through its own
subsidiaries, joint ventures or sales offices in the Netherlands, Italy,
the UK, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Ukraine and India. In Belgium,
Croatia and Romania, the company is already in the process of planning and
constructing biogas plants. Olaf von Lehmden: ‘Our goal is to position
ourselves on the international markets today in order to be successful in
these markets tomorrow and beyond.’ We want to use the fresh capital from
the IPO to enhance our good starting position for the development of new
markets, among other things.’ The company also intends to step up its R&D
investments. In this context, EnviTec focuses on further increasing the
efficiency of its plants by processing fermentation waste. Already today,
the biogas plants constructed and managed by EnviTec in 2006 have an
average capacity utilization of more than 90 percent following the start-up
phase. Further R&D topics addressed by EnviTec include the gasification of
solids and the upgrading of biogas to natural gas quality. An additional
focus will be on the enhancement of a process that converts heat resulting
from the generation of biogas into electricity.
Pre- and post-IPO shareholder structure
Before the IPO, Lehmden Beteiligungs GmbH holds 50 percent, Ruhe
Verwaltungs GmbH holds 16.7 percent, and TS Holding GmbH holds 33.3 percent
of the shares of EnviTec Biogas. After the IPO, Lehmden Beteiligungs GmbH
will hold 35 percent, Ruhe Verwaltungs GmbH will hold 11.7 percent, and TS
Holding GmbH will hold 23.4 percent of the shares (without the exercise of
the greenshoe option). The free float will be approx. 29.9 percent. The
full exercise of the greenshoe option would result in the following
shareholder structure: Lehmden Beteiligungs GmbH: 32.8 percent; Ruhe
Verwaltungs GmbH: 10.9 percent; and TS Holding GmbH: 34.4 percent. The free
float would then be 34.4 percent. Lehmden Beteiligungs GmbH, Ruhe
Verwaltungs GmbH and TS Holding GmbH each undertook not to sell any shares
within a period of 12 months after the initial listing (hard lock-up), and
to sell shares in the 12 months after that only after the prior written
approval of the lead manager (soft lock-up).
In Germany, the shares will be offered by means of a public placement.
Internationally, the shares will be offered by means of a private placement
outside the United States. Interested investors will probably be able to
subscribe the shares from July 2 to 11, 2007. The offer period will
probably end at 12:00 noon (CET) for private investors and at 4:00 p.m.
(CET) for institutional investors. The specific terms and conditions of the
offer are contained in the prospectus which was approved by the Federal
Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) on June 29, 2007, and which has
been published on the company’s website at www.envitec-biogas.de .
EnviTec Biogas covers the entire value chain for the production of biogas –
including the planning and turnkey construction of biogas plants as well as
their commissioning. The company provides the biological and technical
service and also offers the full plant and operating management. In
addition, EnviTec also operates its own biogas plants. In Penkun, in the
German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, EnviTec is currently
constructing what it believes to be the world’s largest biogas park with an
electrical connected load of 20 MWel.
Disclaimer:
This publication constitutes neither an offer to sell nor an invitation to
buy securities. The shares of EnviTec Biogas AG (the ‘Shares’) may not be
offered or sold in the United States of America or to ‘U.S. persons’ (as
defined in Regulation S of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the ‘Securities
Act’), as amended), nor may they be offered or sold on behalf of U.S.
persons unless they have been registered or are exempt from registration
under the U.S. Securities Act. No registration of the shares has been, or
will be made under the Securities Act, nor has an offer of the shares been
made or will an offer of the shares be made to the public outside of
Germany. The offer in Germany will be made exclusively by means of and on
the basis of a prospectus. The prospectus is available on the company’s
website at www.envitec-biogas.de. It is also available free of charge in
printed form at EnviTec Biogas AG, Industriering 10a, 49393 Lohne; at
Dresdner Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Jürgen-Ponto-Platz 1, 60301 Frankfurt am
Main; at Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Neuer Jungfernstieg 20, 20354
Hamburg; and at WestLB AG, Herzogstraße 15, 40217 Düsseldorf.
Press contact:
Grit Pauli
HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Public Relations GmbH
Phone: +49 40 36 90 50-31
E-Mail: g.pauli@hoschke.de
DGAP 02.07.2007
———————————————————————-