Capital News

Tele Columbus: now listed

Tele Columbus AG, Germany’s third largest cable network provider has made its entrance as a Prime Standard into the Frankfurt bourse. The flotation, in January, saw the placement of 17.7 million existing partner-owned shares and 3.3 million new shares accruing from an increase in share capital on the stock exchange. The issuing price was set at 10 Euros per share. The capital measure produced a net issuance revenue of 333 million Euros – not counting the possibility of a greenshoe – an option for up to 10 percent of the new shares. If the option is exercised, net partner revenue would amount to no less than 367 million Euros. The initial free float refers to over 50% of all shares. Most of the revenue must be used to cut indebtedness and fund future growth. Today, Tele Columbus connects some 1.7 million German households to Internet by cable.

SDax: one notch up

Subsequent to its purchase of the C.A.T. Oil AG oil drilling company Austrian investor Joma saw its free float drop from 41.3 to just on 2 percent. This meant that the stock could no longer be SDax-listed in the Deutsche Börse which requires a free float of at least ten percent. Component supplier to the automotive industry HELLA KG aAHueck& Co. has good reason for optimism; it can now rise to SDax listing after its stock market flotation last November. HELLA’s mid-term objective is getting a small and midcaps MDax listing. The next revision of the German share indices is set for early March.

Baywa: carrots with sticks for the shareholders

Börsen-Zeitung has announced that agriculture trading company Baywa is planning to increase its 2014 dividend despite an expected fall in profits. The SDax-listed concern is struggling with a glut of cereals and a fall in cereal prices as well as a ban on exporting EU-grown fruit to Russia. Management is hoping that cereal prices will pick up but have not hazarded any further details. No noteworthy purchases are presently in the pipeline.