Bertelsmann has set the price for the secondary public offering of ordinary shares of RTL Group at €55.50 per ordinary share.
The offering, representing 16.5% cent of RTL Group’s total share capital, comprised 25,500,000 existing ordinary shares including an over-allotment option of 2,318,000 ordinary shares. At the price of €55.50 per share, this would result in gross proceeds for Bertelsmann of approximately €1,415 million.
Should the over-allotment be fully exercised, Bertelsmann will be left with a 75% stake in the broadcaster, down from 92.3 percent now.
The offer period has run from April 18-29, with April 30 slated as the first day of trading for the shares in Frankfurt.
Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are managing the public offering. BofA Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Credit Suisse are joint bookrunners. BNP Paribas, Petercam and Societe Generale are co-lead managers, and Lazard is financial adviser on the deal.
Bertelsmann and RTL said they had agreed to a six-month lockup period following the closing on May 3, 2013.