Turkey’s Global Ports gets that sinking feeling in disappointing LSE IPO

Turkey’s Global Ports gets that sinking feeling in disappointing LSE IPO
Global Ports Holding operates Ege Ports (The Port of Kusadasi), situated on the west coast of Turkey, 90km south of Izmir on the Aegean Sea.
By bne IntelliNews May 12, 2017

Ambitions to make the London Stock Exchange (LSE) initial public offering of Turkey’s Global Ports Holding (GPH) one of the biggest listings of the year sank on May 12 when the float priced at the bottom end of the range.

The largest international operator of cruise ports raised $230mn from the IPO of a 38.2% stake, Global Yatirim Holding, GPH’s parent company, said in a filing with the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange.

The price range for the IPO was set at between 735-875 pence sterling per share, meaning that the company was assessed as having a market capitalisation of from $598mn to $697mn. The final IPO price was determined at 740 pence sterling per share, according to the filing.

The Telegraph on May 12 reported Emre Sayin, chief executive of GPH, as playing down the lower value achieved, saying he was “pleased with the strong interest” in the flotation and “looked forward to exploring growth opportunities” as a public company.

Earlier this year, GPH appointed ex-EU Trade Commissioner and British Labour Party grandee Lord Peter Mandelson to its board, saying his network of global contacts would help the company access new markets.

GPH plans to use around a third of the net proceeds from the IPO to develop and expand its cruise business. It is in discussions with a number of cruise port acquisition targets, including nine ports in Europe, seven ports in the Caribbean and four ports in Asia, GPH said on May 2 in a filing with the LSE. The company hopes for substantial expansion in the Mediterranean where it has an almost 25%-market share.

The share price of Global Yatirim Holding, also a cargo port operator, was up 1.85% d/d to TRY3.31 as of 10:30 local time on May 12 while the Borsa Istanbul’s benchmark BIST-100 index was up 0.13% to 95,239. The annual gain on Global Yatirim shares reached 115%.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held a right to sell up to 70% of its total 10.84% stake in GPH in the IPO. Global Yatirim Holding’s stake in GPH declined to 56.8% following the public offering.

GPH is the world's largest independent cruise port operator by number of ports and passenger volume. It operates 14 ports in eight countries, serving cruise liners, ferries, yachts and mega-yachts.

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