BrokerDealer.com/blog update courtesy of extracts from today’s NYT DealBook
LONDON – The Swedish cable company Com Hem Holding said on Tuesday that it raised 5.67 billion Swedish kronor, or about $853 million, in its initial public offering on the Nasdaq OMXStockholm exchange.
Com Hem, which was acquired by the private equity firm BC Partners in 2011, priced its offering at 58 kronor a share, giving it a market capitalization of 11.5 billion kronor. Shares of Com Hem rose 8.8 percent, to 63.10 kronor, in trading in Stockholm on Tuesday morning.
Com Hem is the largest cable company in Sweden, with around 1.8 million connected households. It could receive additional proceeds of up to 567 million kronor if an overallotment of shares in the offering is fully exercised.
BC Partners, which did not sell shares in the I.P.O., remains the company’s largest investor, with a 50 percent stake. It would hold a 47.7 percent stake if the additional allotment were sold.
“With the support of our new shareholders, we are in a strong position to move forward and to grow our business,” Anders Nilsson, the Com Hem chief executive, said.
Com Hem plans to use the proceeds to reduce debt and to give it more financial flexibility.
The I.P.O. comes at a time of consolidation in Europe’s telecommunications industry.
Vodafone of Britain, Telefónica of Spain and other large players have announced acquisitions in the last 18 months as Europe’s largest carriers bolster their offerings by purchasing cable and fixed-line assets to complement their mobile networks.
Com Hem, founded in 1983, also provides broadband and telephone services. It was spun out of Sweden’s former telecommunications monopoly and counts 39 percent of all households in the country as customers.
The company posted net revenue of 4.4 billion Swedish kronor in fiscal year 2013 and employs about 950 people.
The full article can be found at NYT DealBook.