Meriaura Group plans to sell a minority holding in the maritime logistics business to the Group’s main shareholder
Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 4/25/2024 at 10:54 pm EEST
On Thursday, Meriaura Group announced that it is planning an ownership arrangement in which the Group would sell a minority holding in the Group’s subsidiary Meriaura to the Group’s main shareholder Meriaura Invest. The purpose of the arrangement is to strengthen the financial position of the Renewable energy business and enable Meriaura Group to expand its financial base in the long term. The valuation and closer details are not yet clear.
The arrangement supports the financing base of Renewable energy
Meriaura Invest, the largest shareholder of Meriaura Group (61% holding), has financed Meriaura Energy (previously Savosolar), Meriaura Group's subsidiary with 2.7 MEUR in 2023 and 2.8 MEUR in 2024, which has enabled Meriaura Energy to deliver the largest solar thermal project in the company’s history to Bad Rappenau, Germany. To arrange the financial situation and strengthen Meriaura Group's balance sheet, the Board of Directors of Meriaura Group has made a conditional decision to sell a minority holding in the Group’s other subsidiary Meriaura, which would offset Meriaura Energy’s debt of 4.4 MEUR to Meriaura Invest.
The valuation level of the transaction is not yet known
According to the company’s release, the minority holding to be sold could correspond to approximately a 15-25% holding in Meriaura. The final share and thus the valuation are still open and will be decided by Meriaura Group's next Board of Directors. We estimate that Meriaura Plc’s equity was approximately 35 MEUR at the end of 2023, of which a share of 15-25% would correspond to a balance sheet value of some 5.3-8.8 MEUR. In this case, the valuation level of the arrangement would be P/B 0.5-0,8x, which is below Meriaura Group's current valuation level (P/B 2023 1.0x). We emphasize that the details of the valuation are still open and that we do not have exact information about Meriaura’s equity. However, if the valuation of the transaction was clearly below P/B 1x, it could affect Meriaura Group's share price negatively, as the listed Group would lose part of its most valuable business at a price below the Group's current valuation level.
The arrangement ensures that Meriaura’s financing conditions are met
The Group’s financial position could also be strengthened by other means, such as a share issue. One reason for choosing this complex arrangement is related to Meriaura’s ship investments, the financing conditions of which require the Group’s current majority owner to have sufficient holding in Meriaura also after various changes, such as acquisitions. With the current arrangement, Meriaura Group could in the future issue shares more freely, for example in the context of acquisitions or other financing solutions, while maintaining Meriaura Invest’s holding in Meriaura at a sufficient level required by the conditions of the financing agreements. In the maritime freight sector, it is typical that ship financing contracts require continuity of personal ownership.
Meriaura Group
Meriaura Group har två affärsområden: Maritime Logistics och Renewable Energy. Meriaura transporterar torrlast och utför projektleveranser i norra Europa. Bolaget erbjuder CO2-reducerande sjötransporttjänster baserade på användning av återvunnen, egenproducerad bioolja. Meriaura Energy designar och levererar lösningar för ren energiproduktion för fjärrvärme och industriell användning över hela världen, med Europa som huvudmarknad.
Read more on company pageKey Estimate Figures01/03
2023 | 24e | 25e | |
---|---|---|---|
Omsättning | 66,2 | 78,5 | 85,2 |
tillväxt-% | 666,45 % | 18,56 % | 8,61 % |
EBIT (adj.) | 1,0 | 3,3 | 4,2 |
EBIT-% | 1,58 % | 4,20 % | 4,98 % |
EPS (adj.) | −0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |
Utdelning | 0,00 | 0,00 | 0,00 |
Direktavkastning | |||
P/E (just.) | - | 22,44 | 13,38 |
EV/EBITDA | 8,98 | 6,15 | 5,39 |