Danish firm ISS reveals listing price
DANISH outsourcing firm ISS has priced its proposed $2.5bn (£1.5bn) initial public offering (IPO), in one of the biggest listings in Europe so far this year.
The company, one of Britain’s biggest providers of public sector services, plans to issue as many as 133m new shares to raise 13.3bn Danish crowns (£1.5bn), valuing it as highly as 26.7bn Danish crowns.
It will use the cash to pay down debt owed to its private equity backers – Goldman Sachs and EQT, the investment vehicle operated by Sweden’s Wallenberg family.
A secondary placement of 4m shares will also be made by the pair.
ISS yesterday revealed a price of between 100 and 135 Danish crowns per share, which will help to reduce its net debt from 33bn Danish crowns to 18bn Danish crowns.
The firm, which counts hospital catering staff and cleaners among the 41,000 people it employs in Britain, is planning to list on Copenhagen’s Nasdaq OMS exchange on 18 March.
Chief executive Jeff Gravenhorst said it was the “right time” for a listing. He said: “Of course there are macro economic concerns but mainly in the Middle East, where we don’t know what’s going to unravel or whether it will impact. The company is ready and market conditions are receptive. There is a lot of appetite.”