State moves to sell 5% shares of Neste Corporation

The Finnish State announced an offering of 12.8 million shares in Neste Corporation, representing approximately 5.0 percent of all the shares in Neste.

The books for the share sale will open with immediate effect and the shares will be offered in an accelerated bookbuilt offering to Finnish and international institutional investors, said an official press release.

Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited is acting as Lead Manager and Sole Bookrunner in the share sale.

Currently, the State owns 49.7 percent of the shares in Neste and, upon the completion of the share sale, the State’s ownership interest would decrease to 44.7 percent.

The Parliament has set a minimum threshold of 33.4 percent to the State’s ownership interest in the company.

“The good price development of Neste that has continued for a long period has led to a situation where the company’s portion of the value of direct share portfolio of the State reaches almost one-half. At the same time, the weight of the energy sector in the portfolio has increased significantly. The State will continue to be a significant shareholder of the company, which will, among other things, ensure the strategic interest relating to the ownership. Accordingly, the State has no particular reason to own the current amount of the shares in the company and now is a good time to decrease the ownership in this respect,” said Mika Lintilä, the Minister responsible for the Ownership Steering.

The State will announce the results of the share sale on or about June 13, 2018. The State has agreed not to dispose of any further shares in Neste for a period of 90 days following the share sale, subject to certain exceptions.

Neste creates sustainable solutions for transport, business, and consumer needs. Neste’s wide range of renewable products enable its customers to reduce climate emissions. Neste is the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel refined from waste and residues, introducing renewable solutions also to the aviation and plastics industries.