EQ SHAREHOLDER SERVICES | DECEMBER 2024

Delivering The Largest Online Rights Issue The UK Market Has Seen

National Grid, a leading energy transmission and distribution company, operating in the UK and Northeast US. In May 2024, National Grid announced plans to invest around £60 billion in energy networks in the five years to the end of March 2029 - that’s nearly double the level of investment of the past five years.

National Grid advised that this significant scale of investment would unlock economic growth and enable the increasingly digital, electrified, and decarbonised economies of the future. By the end of the decade, it is expected that National Grid will support more than 60,000 more jobs in the UK and Northeast US.

To finance this unprecedented scale of investment and growth, National Grid announced a comprehensive financing plan, including a £7 billion fully underwritten Rights Issue.

The Brief: The Largest Online Rights Issue In The UK, Ever

National Grid approached EQ and shared their proposal to undertake a £7bn Rights Issue in the UK. Subject to consideration and approval by the National Grid Board of directors, it was expected that the Rights Issue would be announced towards the end of May 2024. This gave EQ approximately 14 weeks to prepare for a potential £7bn Rights Issue.

The key challenges were:

To resource, train and mobilise dedicated operational and customer experience centre teams, in order manage and support applications and telephone enquiries from up to 635,000 shareholders and share schemes participants.
Facilitate shareholder engagement through three core channels: online, post and CREST. Given typical timeframes for Rights Issues and consideration of deadlines by which shareholders needed to act, significant focus was given to encouraging digital channel engagement. The design, build, and support of an online shareholder hub - with the required infrastructure to handle significant online traffic, host useful video content tutorials, and information such as task specific FAQs and documentation such as the prospectus - was required.
Design, build and support a bespoke online sales facility for those shareholders wishing to sell their ‘Rights’ and provide a secure online application and payment channel for those wishing to take up their ‘Rights’.

The Solution: Meticulous Project Management, Engagement, And Close Collaboration

Alongside our vastly experienced Corporate Advice and Corporate Actions Management team (averaging over 20-years’ service per individual), EQ mobilised a dedicated project team to prioritise and mobilise the key activities associated with planning and delivering the single biggest online Rights Issue the UK market has seen.

Meticulous project management, engagement, and close collaboration across 28 core workstreams within EQ was fundamental to the success of a task for which there was only 14 weeks to deliver.

Through discussions with National Grid, given the number of shareholders involved, and the 10-day application window in which shareholders needed to act, it was agreed that designing communications to encourage online participation was key.

Prior to the announcement of the Rights Issue, EQ:

Mobilised a Group-wide project management team and put in place strict project management governance, co-ordinating 28 core workstreams across our business.
Utilised the skills of over 100 EQ colleagues who were engaged on the project.
Designed and built a central shareholder hub and associated bespoke online application sites, incorporating a secure integrated payment channel for all shareholders.
Recruited and trained 150+ staff to resource the operations and customer experience teams.
Worked with National Grid throughout to draft and approve all task-associated communications, including e-mail broadcasts, provisional allotment letters and a bespoke daily MI pack.

The Result: Capital Successfully Raised.

Overall, the task was a success, with shareholders representing 90.96% of the Company’s issued share capital taking up their Rights. The remaining Rights were sold in the market to bring the total raised by National Grid to £7bn.

In partnership with National Grid we have delivered the single biggest online Rights Issue the market has ever seen. I am extremely proud of what our organisations have achieved together, from beginning to end our teams worked in close collaboration, drawing on experience built up over many decades to deliver the best possible solution. As with all major projects, the commitment and dedication required to deliver success was significant and I was hugely impressed at the levels of both shown by everyone involved.”

Aaron Grey, Senior Relationship Director, EQ

Key Operational Statistics

37,500+ hours worked across the project; the equivalent of 5,000+ working days.
Shareholder hub and application website hits: 239,538. With a high of 30,804 in one day.
77% of all applications were made on online.
More than 41,700 calls received between 23 May and 12 July.
Average speed to answer across all telephone lines: 1 minute 54 seconds.
Total number of paper transactions received: 27,902.

Total number of online transactions received: 99,136.
Total number of sales transactions processed: 24,439 (89% of Sales received via online instructions).
Total number of applications CREST applications received: 1,570.
Total value of payments via integrated online payment channel: In excess of £127.3m.
Total value of payments received via CREST: In excess of £6.24bn.

Given the relatively short period of time from first engagement with National Grid to announcement and launch of the Rights Issue, it has been a mammoth effort by all involved in the project to provide such a comprehensive service to National Grid and its shareholders. A massive thank you to all involved from both National Grid and EQ, I hope everyone can now get some well-earned rest!”

Richard Wheatley, Managing Director, Corporate Actions, EQ

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