Melbourne headquartered ANZ today announced applications for its Share Purchase Plan offer (SPP Offer) to raise $500 million in additional equity capital will open on Monday, 24 August 2015 with eligible shareholders able to purchase up to $15,000 worth of ANZ ordinary shares (ANZ Shares).

This capital raising is part of a program announced on 6 August 2015 to raise a total of $3 billion in equity capital to meet recently announced capital requirements for major Australian banks by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

ANZ Chief Executive Officer Mike Smith said: “We considered all the options available and determined that, on balance, a share purchase plan in conjunction with our institutional placement supports our loyal retail shareholders and completes the capital raising in a fair, timely and efficient way. “Most of our retail shareholders will be able to apply for more shares through the SPP Offer than under a pro-rata rights issue, while many of our largest retail shareholders would have already had access to placement shares through their brokers,” Mr Smith said.

The offer price per share under the SPP Offer will be the lesser of:

  • $30.95, being the offer price under the institutional placement; and
  • The volume-weighted average price of ANZ Shares traded on the ASX during the 5 trading days up to, and including, the day on which the SPP Offer is scheduled to close (Tuesday, 8 September 2015) less a 2% discount, rounded down to the nearest cent.
ANZ reserves the right to scale back applications under the SPP Offer if total demand exceeds $500 million. ANZ also reserves the right to issue new ANZ Shares or arrange for the purchase of some ANZ Shares under the SPP Offer to minimise any dilutive impact.

The SPP Offer opens on Monday, 24 August 2015 and is scheduled to close at 5.00pm (AEST) on Tuesday, 8 September 2015. It is open to shareholders who were registered holders of ANZ Shares at 7.00pm (AEST) on Wednesday, 5 August 2015 (Record Date), with a registered address in Australia or New Zealand, and who are eligible to participate under the SPP Offer terms and conditions.