Euroset confirms pulling its £800m IPO
The already shaky climate in the UK’s new issues market worsened today as Russian mobile phone retailer Euroset pulled its £800m issue.
The flotation has been dogged by uncertainty because of nervousness in the markets, with investors increasingly unwilling to pay up for what they deem to be overvalued stock.
City A.M. broke the news at 3pm, after bankers close to the deal said the decision to pull the float was taken around lunchtime.
Euroset has now officially confirmed the postponement, with chief executive Alexander Malis citing difficult market conditions as the reason for the delay.
“Although there was increased interest from the investment community in Euroset, we decided not to proceed with an IPO in the challenging and volatile market conditions,” Malis said.
“The outlook for Euroset is favourable and we remain committed to the Company and to achieving our strategic objectives. Euroset will continue to pursue its strategy of expanding its retail operations going forward and maintaining leadership position in the market. We will keep investors informed about our development plans.”
Three issues have been pulled from the London market in the past couple of weeks; Topaz Energy, which wanted to raise £300m; on Tuesday the online payments group Skrill pulled its £80m cash-raising; and the vacuum technology group Edwards last week pulled its £375m offer.
There were also a couple of Russian floats pulled from the market last month.
The Euroset deal was expected to net Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut more than £500m.
Mamut is a shareholder in the troubled retail group HMV and he was also expected to subscribe for shares in Nomos Bank, a Russian IPO set to price within the next few weeks.