CVC aims at up to $16 billion valuation in Amsterdam IPO

FILE PHOTO: Overview of Amsterdam’s stock exchange interior as Prosus begins trading on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam, Netherlands, September 11, 2019. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Michal Aleksandrowicz

(Reuters) -CVC Capital Partners is targeting a market capitalisation as high as 15 billion euros ($16 billion) in its initial public offering (IPO), the private equity group said on Monday.

The company is offering shares at a price range of 13 to 15 euros, with trading on Euronext Amsterdam expected to start on April 26.

Banks acting on the deal said on Monday morning that books for the IPO had been oversubscribed multiple times by investors, suggesting strong demand.

Assuming shares are priced at the midpoint, CVC and its shareholders will raise up to 1.8 billion euros in proceeds through the sale of new and existing stock, according to a deal term sheet seen by Reuters.

CVC has been looking to launch an IPO for some time but aborted a previous attempt in November due to unfavourable market conditions.

Since then, Europe has seen a string of companies go public, taking advantage of higher stock prices and improving investor sentiment.

Spanish beauty group Puig is currently attempting an IPO in its home market.

New listing performance, however, has been mixed. Last month Galderma saw its shares soar on its market debut, while CVC-backed perfume retailer Douglas has traded below its issue price.

CVC, which has about 186 billion euros of assets under management, is also the latest buyout group to launch an IPO in Europe, following in the footsteps of Bridgepoint and EQT.

Other private capital managers could follow suit. U.S.-based General Atlantic is reportedly considering an IPO in New York.

CVC, which was originally part of lender Citigroup, is striving to transform itself into a diversified asset manager.

Last year, it announced a deal to acquire infrastructure manager DIF and completed a tie-up with secondaries manager Glendower.

($1 = 0.9377 euros)

(Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London and Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk; Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)