ANZ confirms large Visa IPO gain
ANZ today advised the Group’s expected gain from the issue of shares by Visa Inc. as part of its initial public offering would total approximately $350 million before tax.
The advice follows the announcement by Visa Inc., which provides financial institutions with a broad range of platforms for consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, that it has priced the initial public offering of 406 million shares at US$44 per share. Visa's shares will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 19 March 2008.
The size of the gain to ANZ reflects ANZ’s position as the largest Visa issuer in the region. It is expected that between 50% and 60% of ANZ’s holding of Visa Inc. shares will be sold into the initial public offering with the remainder being held by ANZ. The valuation on these shares will reflect the share trading restrictions.
Full details of the gain, which will be treated as a significant item, will be provided as part of ANZ’s Interims Results on 23 April 2008.