Service station operator Applegreen raises €91.7m in IPO

Shares in Irish service station operator Applegreen began trading in Dublin on Friday, raising €91.7 million for the company and its owners.

Some 24.1 million ordinary shares were placed with investors and began trading this morning on the junior ESM market in Dublin and the AIM in

London. The placing, which was priced at €3.80, comprised 18.4 million new shares and 5.7 million sale shares.

The IPO, first revealed by The Irish Times, raised €70.0 million for the company and €21.7 million for its selling shareholders. Applegreen was founded and is owned by Bob Etchingham and Joe Barrett.

The net proceeds will be used by the company to “accelerate the expansion” of the group’s estate in Ireland and the UK by number of sites and by geography and to “upgrade and rebrand a number of existing sites”.

The Irish company had a market cap on admission of about €299.7 million and a total of 78.9 million ordinary shares in issue.

Applegreen has a 12 per cent share of the Irish fuel markets and is the number one operator of motorway service stations here. It operates as a price disrupter in its markets.

At the end of 2014, it had 2,200 staff spread across 152 sites – 96 in the Republic, 54 in the UK and two in Long Island, New York. It has added another 22 sites so far this year.

It also has an extensive retail offering on its forecourts and holds franchises for Subway, Costa Coffee, Burger King and Greggs, among others.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation amounted to €22.8 million on revenues of €973.3 million in 2014.

Applegreen was advised by Goodbody Stockbrokers in Dublin and Shore Capital in the UK.

Commenting on the flotation, Mr Etchingham, Applegreen’s chief executive, said: “I am delighted to announce the successful completion of our IPO and our first day of trading as a listed company. We are very pleased with our list of new institutional shareholders. Their support provides further endorsement of our strategy and our growth prospects.

“The funds raised will provide us with the platform to accelerate our growth across the markets in which we operate and further expand and rebrand our portfolio of sites.”

Applegreen’s admission document shows that Mr Etchingham is paid a salary of €290,000 a year as CEO while Mr Barrett earns €280,000 annually as chief operating officer.

Finance director Paul Lynch will received €275,000 this year, rising to €325,000 in 2016 and €350,000 from 2017 onwards. Mr Lynch has also been granted 1 million shares options in the company. He currently holds 26,316 shares in the business.

All of the directors are entitled to an annual performance bonus and pension contributions.

Chairman Daniel Kitchen is paid €80,000 in fees annually while Howard Millar, a former Ryanair deputy chief executive, receives €50,000 as a non-executive director.

Mr Etchingham and Mr Barrett retain a 69.4 per cent shareholding in Applegreen following its flotation. These shares are held through a company called B&J Holdings Ltd, which is registered in Malta.

This entity acquired the entire share capital of Applegreen in December 2013 from Mr Etchingham and Mr Barrett and became its parent group.