John Laing IPO fails to impress with start price
INFRASTRUCTURE investment group John Laing saw its shares fall by 2.31 per cent yesterday on debut, despite pricing at the bottom of the expected range.
The group, which is behind some of Britain’s biggest infrastructure projects including the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, priced its shares at 195p, giving it a valuation of £715.5m.
That was at the bottom of its price range, which it had set earlier, of between 195p-245p per share, and which could have given the company a market capitalisation of up to £865.5m.
“The success of this international public offering represents a clear endorsement of our leading brand and the prospects of our business,” Olivier Brousse, chief executive of John Laing, said.
John Laing sold about 35 per cent of its share capital in the first major flotation on the London Stock Exchange this year. This means existing shareholders will retain about 65 per cent of the issued share capital.
The company will raise £130m, which it will use for international expansion and “general corporate purposes”. Its owner, Henderson Global Investors, will receive £118.9m from the sale.