All eyes are on Cox. Doubts run through the Spanish stock market on a day in which the energy infrastructure and water treatment group plans to debut this Friday with a market capitalization of around 805 million euros, after successfully completing the capital increase process. .
After several adjustments and delays, since initially the debut in the Spanish market was scheduled for this Thursday, Cox set its IPO at a price of 10.23 euros per share, the minimum amount of the price range that it was considering – 10.23 euros to 11.38 euros per title.
The company founded and chaired by Enrique Riquelme has managed to subscribe its offer of around 175 million euros, with a ‘greenshoe’ of approximately 10 million additional euros. The listing by the group has taken place in a highly complex market environment, although Cox will debut on the stock market with the support of national and international investors, highlighting the presence of global investors highly diversified from a geographical point of view – with majority presence in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Middle East.
In a statement, the company indicated that this culminating process “represents a boost to the business plan for the coming years, endorsing the good positioning of the entity at a global level, as well as the opportunity for growth.”
The company closed its books on Wednesday, reaching enough investors to cover its public offering (IPO) of shares with which it will debut on the Continuous Market. On Tuesday, the company also decided to cut the size of its initial public offering to about 175 million euros, compared to the more than 200 million euros initially planned.
In a supplement to the prospectus, the company thus modified the size of its IPO, offering between 15.37 million and 17.10 million common shares, compared to the initial 17.57 million and 19.55 million new shares. The group also decided to reduce the size of the over-allotment option, the so-called ‘green shoe’, in its offer, from the 15% initially planned to a maximum of 10% of the offer.
At the beginning of October, Cox, in which its subsidiary Cox Energy is already listed on the BME Growth, informed the stock market regulator of its intention to jump into the market. Now it will do so in the Continuous Market with the holding company, formerly Coxabengoa, after integrating the productive businesses of the Abengoa group, and which was renamed Cox.
Cox’s will be the second debut in the Spanish market this week, after this Tuesday’s of Inmocemento, the new company with headquarters in Barcelona that brings together FCC’s real estate and cement businesses. Currently, the president and founder of the group, Enrique Riquelme, is the main shareholder with 77.85% of the capital, and after the offer, he will reduce his position to 63.1%.
“We are excited to take this important step, today’s announcement represents an important milestone in the company’s growth trajectory. Despite the difficulty of the IPO market, investor demand reflected in the offer price is proof of the value that investors see in our strategy and trajectory, as well as in the growth prospects that lie ahead in the water and energy sectors,” Riquelme highlighted.
The income will be used to finance part of the own funds needs for medium-term projects. This includes the expansion of the SEDA and AEB desalination plants, those water concessions identified as opportunities that are awarded to achieve a water portfolio of two million cubic meters/day of aggregate capacity, the transmission concessions of São Paulo and Bahía , those transmission concessions identified as opportunities to reach 575 kilometers of transmission concessions, as well as certain projects in the energy generation area.
In the prospectus, Cox indicated that, in the short term, it intends to allocate the cash flows generated to continue the growth of the business, and does not plan to distribute dividends over the next three years. Thus, as of the date of the prospectus, the group added that it has not yet established a specific dividend policy and that, after this three-year period, it will evaluate whether to introduce it, depending on its future results and its financing needs.
The company had already announced the commitment of investors to acquire around 30% of the offer. A company from the United Arab Emirates (Amea Power) -30 million euros-, a bank from Morocco (Attijariwafa Bank) -for up to 5 million euros- and the Spanish company Corporación Cunext -20 million euros- would thus join the founders in the purchase of shares in their jump to the market. In addition, Enrique Riquelme has committed to 15 million euros and Alberto Zardoya to others between 5 and 10 million euros.
In 2023, Cox recorded a gross operating result (Ebitda) of 103 million euros and revenues that reached 581 million euros. The group’s positive adjusted operating cash flow stood at €37.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023.
In the first half of this year, the company obtained revenues of 306 million euros and an Ebitda of 81 million euros and registered a strong increase in its ‘backlog’ -signed contracts pending execution-, which stood at 1,600 million euros, with an estimated Ebitda margin of 11.7%.
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