Saudi Arabia NEOM Investment fund to hold 6% in Italy's Technogym (updated)

Technogym

01/12/2023 13:35

(Adds details, background, updated share price)
       ROME/MILAN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - 
    Saudi Arabia NEOM Investment Fund (NIF) will hold 6% of
Technogym  TGYM.MI  share capital after an 111-million-euro
($120.83 million) investment and intends to be a long-term
minority shareholder in the Italian fitness-equipment maker, it
said on Friday.
    In a reverse accelerated bookbuilding (RABB) operation on
Thursday, NIF bought 8.8 million shares at 9.20 euros each from
other investors and entered a derivate solution for the purchase
of a further 3.3 million ordinary shares, the statement said. 
    Shares at Technogym were up 6.1% at 8.48 euros per share at
1150 GMT, after closing on Thursday at 7.99 euros per share. The
price paid by NIF represents a 15% premium compared to
Thursday's Technogym closing price. 
        The news is deemed positive as it anticipates important
medium-term business opportunities in the Middle East, analysts
at Italian broker Equita said. 
  
    The move does not entail any share dilution for the other
shareholders of the company, according to the statement.
        Technogym is controlled by its founder and president
Nerio Alessandri.
  
    "NIF believes in the value creation potential of Technogym
given the company's history of steady growth and leading market
position globally," the statement added. 
    JP Morgan acted as sole bookrunner for the transaction,
while Rothschild acted as financial advisor to NIF.
        In September Rome and Riyadh signed an agreement to
strengthen economic ties and boost investments, focusing on
areas such as energy, sustainability, supply chains and sport.
  

($1 = 0.9186 euros)

 (Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Elisa Anzolin, editing by
Gianluca Semeraro, Tomasz Janowski and Andrea Ricci)
 ((Giulia.Segreti@tr.com; +39.06.80307714;))