The parent of North Sea helicopter operator CHC Helicopter expects to raise up to £322million in a stock market listing aimed at reducing its debt pile and positioning itself for growth.
CHC Group said yesterday the initial public offering (IPO) involved 29.4million shares going on the market at between £9.75 and just under £11.
While the main objective is to reduce the group’s debt burden, a spokesman for the Canadian company last night said it would pave the way for future investment in operations, including in the UK North Sea.
“This will give us more flexibility going forward, which can only be good news for all of our operations globally.”
It comes six years after the group was taken private, with US private-equity firm First Reserve, a specialist in energy industry investments, acquiring the business for £1.87billion in what was believed to be a record oilfield service buyout.
Announcing its IPO plans, CHC Group said: “CHC expects to use the proceeds to repay certain CHC Helicopter debt and for general corporate purposes.
“J.P. Morgan, Barclays and UBS Investment Bank are serving as the joint book-running managers for the offering.
“The co-managers are HSBC; RBC Capital Markets; Wells Fargo Securities; BNP Paribas; Standard Bank; Comark Securities (USA) Limited; Cowen and Company; Raymond James; Simmons & Company International; and Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.”
CHC Group added the ordinary shares had already been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
First Reserve’s stake in the group will drop to 61.3% after the offering, which will value the company at about £835.5million at the top end of the expected price range.
Vancouver-based CHC Helicopter operates more than 250 aircraft and employs in excess of 4,300 people in about 30 countries around the world.
It has two operating divisions – CHC Helicopter Services and Heli-One, the world’s largest helicopter maintenance, repair and overhaul business.
One of the company’s Super Puma aircraft ditched into the North Sea last August, killing four people.
It was on its way back to Shetland’s Sumburgh Airport from the Borgsten Dolphin drilling rig.
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