Italian caterer Autogrill has said that it will launch a €600 million capital increase on June 14 offering new shares at €4.59 each.
The group, which is controlled by the Benetton family, said that the subscription price of new shares incorporates a discount of 27.9% to the so-called theoretical ex-right price (TERP) calculated on the reference price of shares on Tuesday.
The Benetton family, which is Autogrill's majority shareholder through investment vehicle Schematrentaquattro, has committed to subscribe all shares due to it on a pre-emptive basis, the group added in a statement.
Shares
Shares in Autogrill fell more than 1% after the caterer unveiled the details of the €600 million rights issue.
The launch of the rights issue was expected, but analysts said that the amount of new shares and the discount on the TERP will weigh on the stock of the company.
"Given the size, which is about one third of the market capitalisation, and due to arbitrages between rights and shares, the stock price could come under downward pressure in coming weeks," broker Bestinver said in a comment.
It also noted that only half of the rights issue will go on the market because the Benettons have committed to subscribe to 50.1% of the new shares to keep their stake unchanged.
More Profitable Locations And Higher-Margin Products
Autogrill, which was advised by Lazard on the rights issue, said that it wants to focus on more profitable locations for its restaurants and shift towards higher-margin products after cutting costs aggressively last year to weather the pandemic.
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