State-owned National Gas Company proposes to offer 75.8 million shares in TTNGL (Phoenix Park) for sale at $20 a share, which will raise just over $1.5 billion, if the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of shares is fully subscribed, brokerage house WISE reported yesterday.
At $1.5 billion, the IPO is the largest ever in the country's history and is one of the most eagerly anticipated as it provides local individuals and institutions with an opportunity to invest in an energy company that generates some of the largest profit margins in T&T.
The $20 price that local investors will pay for one share is 25 per cent less than the $25 that the Government, which owns 100 per cent of NGC, first considered last year when it first brought Phoenix Park to the market.
The initial offer price has been reduced because the international prices of Phoenix Park's products–propane, butane and natural gasoline–have declined along with oil prices.
The Phoenix Park IPO last July was scrapped as the Government faced intense criticism for the mishandling of the First Citizens IPO in September 2013, when it was disclosed that a senior employee of the majority state-owned bank had bought over $14 million worth of shares.
The investigation by the T&T Securities and Exchange Commission into whether any of T&T's securities laws were broken in the First Citizens IPO has been ongoing for more than a year now.
CNC3 reported last night that in a bid to avoid the fiasco that took place with the First Citizens IPO, a transaction advisory team was set up in 2014 for the Pheonix Park IPO. The team is being chaired by the NGC and the project manager is Deloitte and Touche.
The advisor for the First Citizens IPO was PWC.
NGC is awaiting formal approval from the T&T Stock Exchange, but the prospectus received the greenlight from the T&T SEC last Thursday.
The prospectus is expected to be available by next week, sources close to the process said.
The Phoenix Park (or to give it its proper name TTNGL) will be launched on August 10 and the closing date is anticipated to be September 4.
The stock will be listed on the T&T stock exchange on September 28 and it is anticipated that participants in the IPO will be notified of their allocations and refunds on September 25.
