Ventia block upsized to $400m; Apollo dips below substantial

afr.com:

Turns out there was solid demand for Ventia Services Group’s shares at 3.6 per cent discount on Friday evening, paving the way for one of its IPO vendors to take more money off the table that it initially planned.

Ventia Services has traded above its IPO price. Dallas Kilponen/dak

Fund manager sources said JPMorgan and Barrenjoey upsized the block trade from the initial $331 million to $400 million on Friday evening, with Apollo Global selling down another $69 million.

The upsized trade should take Apollo to 4.3 per cent of Ventia’s register and CIMIC to 7.4 per cent – a long way off from the 65 per cent they retained together to get the IPO away back in 2021.

The wait has been worth their while.

Readers will recall Ventia’s IPO was recut back in late 2021 to get the deal away. The original plan was for Apollo and CIMIC to retain combined 44.6 per cent at listing, via a $1 billion to $1.2 billion IPO raise at $2.75 to $3.15 a share.

The float ended up being repriced to $1.70 a share, with Apollo and CIMIC retaining a combined 65 per cent of Ventia to a February 2023 escrow.

While the vendors have had to wait longer than they would have expected to sell down, they’ve been able to sell at a much higher price including $400 million at $2.65 a share on Friday, $300 million at $2.42 a share in May, and about$400 million at $2.15 in March.

JPMorgan and Barrenjoey handled all three trades.

They could have another one by year-end, with Apollo and CIMIC’s voluntary escrows for their remaining 11.7 per cent of Ventia expiring on November 18.