Enersis Clinches Equity Minimum

Chile’s Enersis has passed the minimum rate of subscription in its equity capital raise that would allow controller Endesa to stay under a 65% ownership limit, it says, ahead of the close of the domestic subscription period late Tuesday. In the process targeting $6.02bn, minority holders had subscribed 3.17bn of the 16.44bn shares on offer through Monday, meaning the Spanish parent would be assured of staying below the 65% limit and avoid needing to make a required tag-along offer. The final results of the subscription period were to be announced as soon as today, along with possible plans for the sale of any remaining shares. People following the deal expected more than 95% subscription as of late Tuesday, meaning the deal could close this week. Before the increase, Endesa had about a 61% stake in Enersis. Enersis raised $625m from the sale of American Depositary Shares (ADS) as of the close of the ADS subscription portion last week. In total, Enersis is targeting a maximum CLP2.84trn ($6.00bn), by offering up to 16.44bn shares at CLP173 each. JPMorgan, BTG Pactual and Bank of America Merrill Lynch were global coordinators on the ADS sale, with Banchile, BBVA, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Larrain Vial, Morgan Stanley and Santander as bookrunners. JPMorgan, Celfin, BBVA, Santander, Larrain Vial, Banchile and BAML are managing the local side. The controversial transaction was approved in December, after months of back and forth with regulators and minority investors. Endesa plans to subscribe its portion of the transaction with its LatAm assets that don’t already belong to Enersis, and needed negotiations with Chilean pension funds and multiple outside evaluations to reach agreement on the assets’ value. The process will raise funds for acquisition opportunities and streamline Endesa’s operations in LatAm by placing all of its holdings under Enersis. Enersis shares closed at CLP182.03 Tuesday.