Digi Spain Telecom begins trading this Thursday on the stock market with a capitalisation of €1.662 billion after placing 17.3% of its capital. The operation will allow it to raise €150 million to finance its price war in fibre and mobile.
The Spanish subsidiary of the Romanian group Digi, known for its low-cost rates in telephony and internet, lands on the stock exchange this Thursday. It does so with an initial price of €5.6 per share and a market capitalisation of around €1.662 billion. The bell ringing is scheduled for 12:00, at which point it will start trading under the ticker DIGIS.
The operation brings to market 51.3 million shares, of which 26.8 million are newly issued and 24.5 million come from shares sold by its parent company, Digi Romania. The company has received approval from the CNMV after completing all the required procedures.
€150 Million for Fibre and Mobile
The funds raised are not for providing an exit for the parent company, but to finance Digi's aggressive industrial plan in Spain. With the issuance of new shares, the telecom will obtain around €150 million, which will be mainly allocated to expanding its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network and accelerating the deployment of its own mobile network.
Additionally, Digi Romania will receive around €137 million from the sale of existing shares, a figure that could reach €180 million if the over-allotment option is exercised. The company leaves the door open to financing acquisitions or strategic projects in a market where it already competes directly with Movistar, Orange, and Vodafone.
The Backing of Mayoral and the Management Team
The stock market debut has a heavyweight partner: Global Portfolio Investments, the investment vehicle of the Indumenta Pueri group (owner of the children's fashion brand Mayoral), has signed a binding commitment to invest €100 million. This backing connects Digi with Spanish family capital accustomed to supporting growth companies.
The board of directors of the newly listed company will be chaired by Serghei Bulgac and will include Marius Vărzaru, Cătălin Neagoe, Mariana Mihaela Toroman, and independent directors Carlos Robles García and Virginia Arce Peralta. The parent company and senior management have committed not to sell shares in the short term: Digi Romania will have a 180-day lock-up, and the first executives, a 360-day lock-up.
On the financial side, the operation has Barclays, UBS, and Banco Santander as global coordinators; BNP Paribas and Citi as senior underwriters; and BBVA, CaixaBank, and ING in the underwriting syndicate. Rothschild & Co acts as financial advisor.
For retail investors, Digi's stock market debut represents an opportunity to enter a stock that promises to be a disruptor in the telecommunications market. The company has already demonstrated its ability to pressure prices, and now with more capital, it can intensify its deployment. However, the majority control of Digi Romania (around 80%) limits the free float, a point to consider.
Trading begins this Thursday at 12:00. Those interested in following the evolution can check the ticker DIGIS in real-time.
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