Renk, Athens airport debuts boost Europe's IPO market

Athens International Airport

07/02/2024 17:13

By Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro and Emma-Victoria Farr
       LONDON/FRANKFURT, Feb 7 (Reuters) - German defence
contractor Renk  R3NK.D  and Greece's Athens International
Airport (AIA)  AIAr.AT  soared in their market debuts on
Wednesday, in a boost for Europe's bruised IPO market.
    Shares in Renk, a producer of tank gearboxes, closed at
19.65 euros Wednesday afternoon, 31% higher than the price paid
by investors in a private placement ahead of the listing.
    AIA initially jumped by as much as 15% and closed at 9.16
euros per share, 12% above its IPO price.
    The success of Europe's first major initial public offerings
this year is seen as a good omen by bankers, who are hoping for
a busier 2024 after seeing volumes plummet in the last two
years.
    "This is the beginning of a potential reopening of the
European IPO market," said Marco Guarino, executive director
with Morgan Stanley's regional equity capital markets (ECM)
syndicate, which co-led the Athens IPO.
    "We expect the market to be busier around Easter but also
later in Q2 and in Q3."
    Kazakhstani airline Air Astana  AIRA.KZ  is in the midst of
listing shares and depositary receipts on the London stock
market and in its home country.
    Elsewhere, German perfume retailer Douglas is preparing for
an IPO as soon as this quarter, sources have told Reuters
previously.
    Swiss skincare giant Galderma, Italian fashion firm Golden
Goose and German transport group Flix are also on bankers' lists
of possible IPOs for this year.
    However, not all the companies that have come to market
since January have had the same reception as Renk and AIA,
suggesting investor appetite for new stocks is still recovering.
    Theon International  THEON.AS , a developer of night vision
and thermal imaging systems for defence and security, saw its
shares dip below the IPO price in its Amsterdam trading debut on
Wednesday.
    The Cyprus-based group and its shareholders expect to raise
as much as 154 million euros from the IPO after pricing the deal
at the bottom of the targeted value range.
    Renk was forced to cancel its IPO in October amid tough
market conditions.
    Since then, central banks have begun signalling an end to
interest rate hikes, while defence stocks have recovered from a
dip in the autumn.
    Ongoing talks with investors allowed the company to place
500 million euros of stock this time in around just two days,
Deutsche Bank managing director Heiko Leopold said.
    "We got there, and the positive share price movement shows
that there is a much better market sentiment now," Malte Hopp,
Citi's ECM head for Germany and Austria, added.

 (Reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro in London and Emma-Victoria
Farr in Frankfurt. Editing by Anousha Sakoui and David Evans)
 ((Pablo.MayoCerqueiro@thomsonreuters.com;))