Capital Maritime Finance Corp. (CMF) set a new record in the history of Greece's financial markets by completing a successful public offering. This offering is considered the first exclusive listing of a shipping company on the regulated market of Euronext Athens, with total demand reaching an unprecedented €1.1 billion.
Increase in Offering Size and Share Price
Strong demand led to an increase in the offering size from €250 million to €300 million. CMF set the price of each new share at €7.50 instead of fully utilizing pricing flexibility to preserve growth potential for new shareholders. In total, 40 million new shares were allocated, representing a significant free float ratio of 28.6 percent.
Retail Participants and Investors
Greek retail participants in this public offering were unprecedentedly active, with total subscriptions reaching around 14,000, equivalent to 50 percent of active domestic investment accounts on Euronext Athens. These investors were allocated 20,546,668 shares, which constitutes 67 percent of the total new shares allocated excluding cornerstone shares. Additionally, total demand from retail investors reached 61,598,531 shares.
In addition to retail investors, investment from foreign institutional portfolios and Greek institutional investors was also significantly high. This group of investors received 10,120,000 shares, equivalent to 33 percent of the total new shares allocated excluding cornerstone shares, with total demand from this group reaching 73,808,234 shares.
Cornerstone Investors and Large Business Groups
This public offering also attracted several large business groups in Greece as cornerstone investors. The Vardinoyiannis, Mytilineos, Preveza, and Kokkalis groups achieved a total investment of €70 million, equivalent to 9,333,332 new shares or 23.3 percent of the total offering.
This event is not only considered a major success for CMF but also reflects the high market demand for investment in the shipping sector and related activities in Greece. This success opens new horizons for further growth and development in this industry and may help increase investor confidence in Greece's financial markets.
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