Cleary Gottlieb represented the Belgian State, which holds 50.01% of bpost, the leading provider of postal services in Belgium, in the recent initial public offering of bpost’s shares. The IPO was an offering of existing shares held by CVC Funds through Post Invest Europe, corresponding to approximately 30% of bpost’s shares. The offering consisted of an initial public offering to retail and institutional investors in Belgium, a public offering without listing in Japan, a private placement in the United States to qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A and private placements to institutional investors in the rest of the world. The pricing and allocation took place on June 21 and trading commenced that day on NYSE Euronext Brussels on an if-and-when-delivered basis. The closing and settlement occurred on June 25.
In 2006, CVC and Post Danmark acquired 49.99% of bpost from the Belgian State; Post Danmark then withdrew from the consortium in 2009. The initial agreement among shareholders contemplated that CVC could exit through an IPO and the shareholders have been considering this possibility since 2009.
bpost’s initial public offering is the most important IPO in Belgium since 2007 and the second most important in Europe this year. Cleary Gottlieb has been advising the Belgian State over the years on various issues related to its shareholding in bpost.
