Schott AG is looking to raise as much as €859 million ($917 million) from an initial public offering of its specialty medical-glassware division, in what is likely to be one of the biggest German stock listings this year.
(Bloomberg) — Schott AG is looking to raise as much as €859 million ($917 million) from an initial public offering of its specialty medical-glassware division, in what is likely to be one of the biggest German stock listings this year.
The offering values Schott Pharma AG at as much as €4.3 billion, the company said in a statement Monday. Schott Pharma said 30.1 million shares are being offered at €24.50 to €28.50 each through Sept. 27, with the new stock set to start trading in Frankfurt a day after. If there’s sufficient demand for underwriters to place additional shares, the deal could raise as much as €987 million, the company said in a statement.
Frankfurt’s new listings pipeline looks set to give a boost to Europe’s still-somnolent market for initial public offerings, with two German companies in recent days saying they intend to go public by the end of the year. Military gearbox manufacturer Renk Group, together with its shareholder, a holding company majority owned by investment firm Triton, is also preparing for an IPO.
The IPO market has been recovering after a slump last year as higher interest rates curbed profits and fueled a selloff in stocks. German companies seem ready to seize what they see as a window of opportunity amid lower volatility that has improved market conditions, following a 14% rally this year in the benchmark German stock index.
The Qatar Investment Authority has agreed to buy as much as €200 million of stock at the IPO price, up to a maximum stake of 4.99%.
BNP Paribas, BofA Securities, and Deutsche Bank are leading Schott Pharma’s IPO, with Jefferies and Citigroup in cooperation with Commerzbank and LBBW as joint bookrunners.
All proceeds from the offering will go to Schott AG, a maker of specialty-glass products that’s owned by the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The offering will consist of a stake of up to 23% in Schott Pharma.
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