Vodafone’s Vantage Towers business set the price for its initial public offering at 24 a share for a transaction that will value the mobile phone tower operator at 12.1bn.
The offer price is at the bottom of a 24-25 range tightened on Tuesday from an original range of 22.50 to 29.
The company will place 95,833,334 shares resulting in gross proceeds to Vodafone of 2.3bn. The shares will start trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Thursday.
Nick Read, Vodafone’s chief executive, said: “This IPO unlocks value for our shareholders: it demonstrates the value of our towers assets in a 5G world and sets up Vantage Towers to unlock its full potential as a focused independent tower operator, with the proceeds reducing group debt.”
Vantage Towers is floating in a buoyant market for IPOs as the global economy rebounds from the Covid-19 crisis. Most big European listings have been priced at the top of their ranges.
The business has 82,000 sites in 10 countries. It will lease its towers, masts, antenna systems and other assets to Vodafone, its anchor tenant providing about 90% of initial revenue, and other network operators.
Vivek Badrinath, Vantage Towers’ CEO, said: “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.”
