FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Shares in German copper producer Aurubis fell on Wednesday after key shareholder Salzgitter sold 500 million euros ($582 million) worth of bonds that can be exchanged for 7.6% of Aurubis’s stock.
Shares in Aurubis, previously buoyed by booming copper markets, fell 6.7% to 108.2 euros at 0752 GMT, eliminating gains from earlier this month.
The move quenched simmering takeover speculation because Salzgitter has held 29.99% of Aurubis and a stake of more than 30% would have triggered a mandatory offer to remaining shareholders.
The seven-year bonds, due in 2032, offer investors a fixed annual interest rate of 3.375% and can be swapped for existing Aurubis shares at an initial exchange price of 145.80 euros.
BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank and UniCredit acted as joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the transaction, which aims to diversify Salzgitter’s financing structure and maturity profile.
Salzgitter, whose shares were up 0.5%, said it plans to list the bonds in the Open Market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
($1 = 0.8595 euros)
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Alexander Huebner, Editing by Friederike Heine, Kirsti Knolle)
