JPMorgan launches $70m SG Fleet block trade

afr.com:

SG Fleet Group’s second-largest shareholder, LeasePlan Corporation, was looking to trim its 13 per cent stake after market close on Monday.

SG Fleet’s second-largest shareholder is ready to slip under the substantial mark.  Louie Douvis

Street Talk understands LeasePlan had JPMorgan’s equity desk seeking buyers for about 31 million shares – or 9.1 per cent of the company – via a variable price bookbuild.

JPMorgan had underwritten the block at $2.23 floor price, but was hoping to push it towards the $2.30 ceiling. Fund managers were asked to bid in 1¢ increments by 7pm. It would total $69 million to $71 million.

The trade was eventually done at the underwritten floor price. It represented a 13.2 per cent discount to SG Fleet’s last close.

It would push LeasePlan under the substantial mark, with around 4 per cent of SG Fleet.

LeasePlan acquired the stake in 2021, when SG Fleet paid $387 million in cash and scrip to buy its Australia and New Zealand business. As a part of the deal, LeasePlan’s scrip was escrowed 50-50 to the first anniversary of completion and the second one.

It is cashing out at a time when SG Fleet’s shares have risen 49.2 per cent in the past 12 months.