Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund will sell almost one-third of Z Energy in a co-ordinated sale, rounding out a profitable five-year investment in the former Shell petrol station assets that were spruced up and listed on the NZX in 2013.
Infratil will sell its 20 per cent cornerstone holding via an overnight bookbuild process, offering 80 million shares at between $6 and $6.20, a discount to Z Energy's $6.63 record high closing price. NZ Super will sell its 9.73 per cent, or 38.9 million shares, into the same bookbuild, reducing its holding to just over 10 per cent.
They raised $840 million when they sold 60 per cent of Z via an initial public offering in 2013, with shares selling for $3.50 apiece. They bought the petrol station assets from Shell in 2010, and each retained a 20 per cent stake.
From the latest sale, Infratil could earn between $480 million and $496 million, while NZ Super will raise up to $241 million.
Z is waiting on approval from the Commerce Commission on its bid to acquire Chevron New Zealand's service stations. Z sees annual savings of between $25 million and $30 million from acquiring the Chevron assets, up from earlier estimates of $15 million to $25 million. The company also lowered the forecast cost of acquiring the Caltex and Challenge! branded chains to $55 million from $64 million, while saying any delay in the November 30 cut-over date would add an extra $2 million a month.
