Church bank APS to go public with new share release, seeks MSE listing

Church bank APS will be going public with a share issue to the general public and has applied for listing on the Malta Stock Exchange.

The bank will issue 100,000,000 new ordinary shares to the public with an over-allotment option of an additional 10,000,000 shares at an issue price of 62c.

APS is currently owned by the archdiocese of Malta through two companies with a combined shareholding of more than 79%, the diocese of Gozo (18.2%) and the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter (2.3%).

With the issue of new shares the Maltese archdiocese shareholding will be diluted to 55.1% but the church will still remain the single largest shareholder.

The new shares, including the over-allotment option, will collectively account for 30.6% shareholding.

In a statement on the Malta Stock Exchange, the APS directors said the new shares will be offered for subscription to the general public and preferred applicants – directors, employees of the APS group and registered bondholders of the bank.

APS has entered into pre-allocation agreements with various authorised financial intermediaries and investors, pursuant to which investors were able to subscribe for new shares at an issue price of 62c with a discount price of 59c4 depending on the amount of shares bought.

The directors said that through pre-allocation agreements, APS is conditionally bound to issue 69,681,981 new Shares at an average price of 59c4 per share.

Accordingly, a total of 40,318,019 new shares (including the additional 10,000,000 over-allotment option) will be available for subscription by the general public and preferred applicants during initial public offering.

Details on the proposed listing and IPO, including the method of application for new shares and the timetable for the offer period, will be available in the prospectus to be published by the bank once regulatory approval is granted.

APS will be joining the ranks of other banks with shares listed on the MSE. Currently, Bank of Valletta, HSBC, Lombard Bank and Fimbank have public shares being traded on the MSE.