Dutch-based group Vimetco, controlled by Russian investor Vitaliy Machitski, will launch a secondary public offering to sell a 53.8% stake in Romanian aluminum producer Alro Slatina. The group has set a maximum price of RON 6.18 per share looking to get as much as EUR 508 million for the stake.

This sale may be the biggest transaction in the history of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The current record belongs to state electricity distributor and supplier Electrica, which carried out a EUR 444 million initial public offering in June 2014. However, in Electrica’s case, the IPO also took place on the London Stock Exchange.

The asking price in Also’s public offer is 71% higher than the price at which the company’s shares closed the trading session on Tuesday, June 26, namely RON 3.61 per share. The premium is justified by the fact that this offer gives institutional investors the possibility to take a big stake in Alro, which has been impossible so far due to the very low free float.

Vimetco and affiliated company Conef own close to 88% of Alro’s shares while investment fund Fondul Proprietatea holds a 10.21% stake. The free float stands for only 1.83% of the total number of shares. Following this public offer, Vimetco will reduce its stake in Alro to just over 34%.

The offer values the company at up to EUR 944 million, which is 7.7 times the group’s operating profit (EBITDA) in 2017 (EUR 122 million). The group, which includes aluminum producer Alro, its alumina supplier Alum Tulcea and aluminum processor Vimetco Extrusion, had total sales of some EUR 586 million and a net profit of EUR 84 million.

Alro’s secondary public offering takes place between July 2 and July 16. Deutsche Bank and UBS act as Global Coordinators while BCR, BRD, BT Capital Partners, Raiffeisen Centrobank and Banca IMI Spa are Joint Bookrunners.

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editor@romania-insider.com