22 November 2004
Gullivers Initial Public Offering Now Open
The initial public offering (IPO) of diversified travel services business Gullivers Travel Group opened today.
The offer price for the IPO is $1.60 per share, which gives Gullivers an initial market capitalisation of $160 million.
Under the offer, 65 million shares (65% of the shares on issue) have been allocated to institutional investors and a
number of retail brokers in New Zealand and Australia following a bookbuild process completed on November 9.
The offer closes on December 7 and the shares are expected to list on both the New Zealand and Australian stock
exchanges on December 15.
Gullivers, New Zealand's largest outbound travel services business, was founded in 1976 as a travel wholesaler and has
experienced significant growth over the last 28 years.
The group is now vertically and horizontally integrated, operating multiple business lines and distribution channels,
including:
· Wholesale and ticketing (Gullivers Wholesale and Gullivers Ticketing) · Retail leisure (Holiday Shoppe and United
Travel franchises) · Corporate travel (Atlantic Pacific, Signature Travel, Biztrav) · Online distribution (Zuji licence,
Serko, Calypso) · Technology (Access Interactive and Interactive Technologies Limited).
The prospectus forecasts continued growth driven by the ongoing expansion of outbound travel from New Zealand and
through various strategies including the development of online distribution channels such as Zuji, which would provide
the means for the group to further diversify into the inbound tourism market, allowing it to market its inbound product
directly to the global marketplace.
Proceeds from the offer will be used for the acquisition of the entities making up the group. Founder and managing
director Andrew Bagnall and other management will hold 35% of the shares in the group.
The lead manager and underwriter of the offer is UBS. Macquarie Equities and First NZ Capital have been appointed New
Zealand retail co-managers and UBS Private Clients Australia Limited has been appointed the Australian retail
co-manager. There is no public pool for the offer.
An investment statement has been prepared in relation to the shares in Gullivers Travel Group. A copy of a combined
investment statement and registered prospectus is available free of charge from the lead manager, UBS, and the New
Zealand retail co-managers, Macquarie Equities NZ Limited and First New Zealand Capital Securities. Application has been
made to the NZX for permission to list Gullivers Travel Group, and all the requirements of the NZX relating thereto that
can be complied with on or before the date of this advertisement have been duly complied with. However, the NZX accepts
no responsibility for any statement in this advertisement.
ENDS