Citadele group’s asset management company IPAS CBL Asset Management, on behalf of its state-funded pension plan CBL Aktivais, has expressed readiness to acquire a significant number of JSC APF Holdings (hereinafter – APF) shares under the initial public offering (IPO).
Considering that after the decision of the Rural Support Service on availability of EUR 2 million funding for implementation of the APF future plans, the sum to be attracted in IPO can be reduced, and the size of the CBL Asset Management transaction, IPO shares will have a new, lower price than initially announced for the IPO process - it will be EUR 5.11 per share. In order to ensure equal rights for all investors, the new price will be applied for all IPO transactions, namely, for those investors who have already subscribed to shares and for those who will still subscribe to the shares by the end of IPO.
In order to give a chance to the new investors to consider a possibility to purchase APF shares for the new price and under new conditions, the term for subscription to IPO shares has been extended until 15:30 on November 3, 2023.
Investors, who have already subscribed to the shares, are not required to do anything, and after allocation of shares, their orders will be fulfilled with the new price of EUR 5.11 per share and the difference of the price will be refunded to a bank account. If investors are not satisfied with the new price and changes in the subscription period, they can cancel the submitted orders until 15:30 on November 2.
“CBL Asset Management ensures us with a new anchor investor who will provide stability for the company development and strengthen the company’s position in the financial market, considering that CBL Asset Management is one of the leading pension management companies in our region. The presence of a large pension plan among shareholders will strengthen the confidence of all our partners about the company’s economic growth and quality of the management” said Jurijs Adamovics, the board chairman of JSC APF Holdings.
“The IPO of APF Holdings is one of the rare opportunities to invest the pension capital in a growth of a perspective Latvian companies. We wish this IPO to succeed so that the Latvian company is growing, and the local capital market is developing – with such an idea in mind, we got down to organization of this transaction. At the same time, we should not forget that our priority as a pension manager is the benefit of the pension plan participants – we have to follow principles of a careful and thoughtful manager. The price on which we agreed to participate in IPO allows the company to attract capital to finance its growth plans and at the same time, ensures attractive yield potential for the government-funded pension plan CBL Aktivais, and share price growth potential as these plans come true,” said Zigurds Vaikulis, IPAS CBL Asset Management investment director and pension plan manager.
As reported, APF plans use IPO to attract investments for growth in order to significantly expand its operations and by 2025 increase egg production by 60 percent and more than double its revenue from about EUR 11 million in 2022 up to EUR 25 million in 2025. With the help of IPO investors and further financing from the banks, APF plans to build two more hen houses in the addition to the current three and expand the capacity of the production support infrastructure. This will allow an increase in egg production from 115 million per year to 180 million per year and an increase in the number of laying hens to 665,000. In addition, APF plans to start egg processing with new equipment in order to create modern and healthy egg products.
APF is being advised by Latvia’s leading investment bank Signet Bank on financial matters in connection with the planned IPO, while the sales agent in Estonia is JSC LHV Pank. The company is advised by Eversheds Sutherland Bitans on legal matters. Listing of APF shares on Nasdaq alternative market First North is planned on November 3 or shortly after that date. JSC APF Holdings was founded in 2017 by Jurijs Adamovics to take over and modernize a 60-year-old poultry facility based in Aluksne. Today, JSC APF Holdings comprises a group of companies involved in poultry farming, chicken egg production and marketing, as well as production of gas and organic fertilizers as part of its poultry business. The group is made up of SIA Aluksnes Putnu Ferma (poultry farming and egg production), SIA APF Trading (wholesale trade in chicken eggs), SIA Oluksne (poultry farming and egg production services), SIA APF Energy (production of gas and organic fertilizers), and SIA Preilu Putni (poultry farming, rearing farm). Jurijs Adamovics is the largest shareholder in APF Holdings.
Disclaimer: This announcement constitutes unpaid marketing communication under the Prospectus Regulation and does not constitute investment advice or offer. The information contained herein contains general forward-looking statements about AS APF Holdings’ intention to make an initial public offering of its shares. Each investment decision should be made on the basis of a Prospectus approved by the Bank of Latvia. The approved Prospectus is published on the website of the Bank of Latvia (https://bank.lv/).