Leonardo's board of directors gave the green light for the Wall Street listing of Drs, the American subsidiary that deals with the development and production of a wide range of systems dedicated to military missions, some of which are used by the US military.
“Leonardo DRS, has filed Form S-1 registration document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) related to a proposed initial public offering of a minority interest in its common stock,” Leonardo said in a statement. .
"The number of ordinary shares to be placed and the price range of the placement have not yet been determined", says the company, but according to rumors on Wall Street, a share between 25-30% of the capital of Drs, compared to the 40% initially foreseen. "The completion of the transaction - continues Leonardo - is expected by the end of March 2021, and is subject, among other things, to the completion of the SEC verification process and to favorable market conditions".
“Today we announce an important step in Leonardo's strategic development, with the proposal to list a minority percentage of Leonardo DRS on the New York Stock Exchange. By maintaining a majority stake we will continue to have significant exposure in this strategically important market, continuing to leverage the consolidated relationships for the benefit of all Leonardo's businesses" he commented Alessandro Profumo, CEO of Leonardo.
“At the end of the placement Leonardo US Holding will hold a majority stake in the capital of Leonardo DRS. A new proxy agreement will come into effect with the US Department of Defense to allow Leonardo DRS to continue to compete and work on classified programs,” the statement reads.
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC., BofA Securities, Inc. and JP Morgan Securities LLC will act as lead book-running managers and Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley will act as book-running managers of the offering. Mediobanca acts as financial advisor for Leonardo SpA
From this operation Leonardo could collect about a billion, for an overall valuation of Drs of approximately 3 billion euro. The precise figure will depend on the price and quantity of shares that will be sold on the stock exchange. The proceeds will be used for reduce net financial debt of Leonardo from 3,3 to approximately 1,5 billion and to finance new, potential acquisitions.
We recall that Drs was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until 2008, the year the former Finmeccanica took over the company entirely, arranging its delisting. In the first nine months of 2020 (latest data available) Drs recorded revenue up 6% to 1,72 billion and orders up 13% to 2,26 billion, equal to 26% of the entire order portfolio of the group led by Alessandro Profumo.
on the stock exchange, the title Leonardo it dropped almost 2% on a difficult day for the entire list (Ftse Mib -0,54%).
(Last update: 17.54 pm on 26 February).
