A $1bn sell down by the Auckland Council out of Auckland International Airport is shaping up to be one of the next block trades to hit the market, with brokers out testing appetite for the shares.
It is understood that institutional investors in the airport have fielded calls from investment banks this week to determine whether they would buy the shares if they were offered on market.
Already the council, which needs funds to pay for infrastructure, has offloaded a 7 per cent stake in Auckland Airport, worth $NZ800m, to pay down debt.
The council has set up a future fund to hold the investment and wants to diversify the holdings.
The Federal Reserve’s 50 basis points rate cut on Wednesday night has been well received by the market, creating more buoyant conditions for block trades and equity raisings.
Auckland International Airport raised $NZ1.4bn on Monday for its capital spending program and was well supported in a deal through Jarden and Macquarie Capital.
Shares were sold at $NZ6.95, ($6.95) a 7 per cent discount to its last close of $NZ7.48 on the NZX (they closed on the ASX at $6.95) and they are now trading on the ASX at $6.83 as at midday.
In recent weeks, Apollo has reduced its stake in Challenger, while Woolworths has sold out of Endeavour Group and Aussie Broadband out of Superloop.
The other block trade anticipated in the market is the sale of Odyssey Investment Partner’s 9 per cent stake in $3.5bn listed insurance broker AUB.
Odyssey inherited the holding in 2022 when AUB purchased its insurance brokerage business Tyers and paid for the deal partly in scrip and an escrow arrangement is at its end.
A deal was announced in May 2022 in which AUB would pay $880m for the London-based wholesale broker.
The stake was worth $176m at the time and came with an equity raising at $19.50 per share to fund the acquisition.
Based on the market value now, with its share price at about $30, the stake would be worth around $280m, making a selldown lucrative for the stakeholder.
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