Cleary Gottlieb represented the underwriters, led by Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited and Merrill Lynch International, as Global Coordinators, and including BNP PARIBAS, Nomura International and Société Générale, in connection with the €414 million offering of new shares by Compagnie Générale de Géophysique-Veritas (CGGVeritas). The offering launched on September 26, 2012 and closed on October 23, 2012.
The new shares were offered initially through the distribution of preferential subscription rights to existing holders of CGGVeritas shares. Any remaining shares were offered by the underwriters. The rights offering and the underwritten offering included a public offering in France and a private placement to institutional investors outside of France, including to qualified institutional buyers in the United States.
The purpose of the offering is to finance the acquisition by CGGVeritas of the Geoscience Division of Fugro, a Dutch listed company. The total acquisition price of €1.2 billion will be funded through the proceeds of the share offering, a €225 million payment to be made by Fugro upon the creation of a related joint venture, and debt financing.
CGGVeritas is a leading manufacturer of geophysical equipment and international provider of geophysical services. Founded in France in 1931, CGGVeritas sells geophysical equipment primarily to other geophysical service companies and provides geophysical services principally to oil and gas companies that use seismic imaging to help explore for, develop and manage oil and gas reserves. Its shares are listed on the regulated market of NYSE Euronext in Paris and in the form of American Depositary Shares on the New York Stock Exchange.