DSV Raises Capital at No Discount, Sending Shares Higher

By Dominic Chopping

Shares in DSV topped the Stoxx Europe 600 index Friday after it completed a capital raise of about 5 billion euros ($5.52 billion) without having to offer a discount to investors.

Shares were 8% higher in afternoon trade in Europe.

The Danish logistics company last month agreed an 11 billion euro deal to buy Deutsche Bahn's Schenker logistics arm, financed through a combination of up to 5 billion euros in new capital plus debt.

The acquisition should propel the combined group to become the largest global freight forwarder globally, with a market share of around 6% to 7%, overtaking both Deutsche Post's DHL and Kuehne + Nagel.

It said Friday it completed the equity raise, offering shares at Thursday's closing price.

Raising such a large amount in such a short amount of time without having to offer the new shareholders a discount is very rare, Sydbank senior analyst Mikkel Emil Jensen said.

"This shows very high interest and strong trust in DSV from the new investors who are now on the DSV bandwagon and who see potential in the takeover of Schenker," Jensen added.

The new share offer attracted cornerstone commitments of 21 billion Danish kroner ($3.11 billion), including $1.1 billion from BlackRock, around 600 million euros from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, around $700 million from Capital Group and $400 million from Norges Bank Investment Management, among others.

DSV published third-quarter earnings late Thursday that were in line with expectations, while also lifting the lower-end of its full-year earnings guidance range.

"We expect this update to be reassuring given the market's nervousness around trade demand while the news of the end of the port strike in the U.S. should be supportive of a normalized trading environment," JPMorgan analyst Alexia Dogani wrote.

Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 04, 2024 08:59 ET (12:59 GMT)

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