Skyward Specialty Insurance soars in 2023's first IPO

Skyward Specialty Insurance

13/01/2023 17:16

** Shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group Inc  SKWD.O 
jump 30% in debut on Fri in year's first IPO
    ** SKWD opens at $18.90 vs $15 IPO price. Shares rise as
high as $19.50, valuing co at nearly $750 mln
    ** Houston-based specialty P&C insurer's IPO of about 9 mln
shares, upsized from 8.5 mln shares, gets done at midpoint of
$14-$16 range
    ** SKWD sells 4.75 mln shares, existing holders including
affiliates of Everest Re  RE.N  and French insurer AXA SA
 AXAF.PA  offer the remainder
    ** IPO price represents 1.6x SKWD's fully diluted tangible
book value of $9.51, and 1.2x fully diluted book value of $12.22
as of Sept 30, per SEC filing
    ** Barclays and Keefe Bruyette & Woods leading 8-firm
underwriting group for the offering
    ** The IPO market froze in 2022 as surging interest rates
and extreme volatility pounded equities, but the insurance space
outperformed. The S&P 500 Insurance Index  .SPXIN  gained 8%
last year vs S&P 500's  .SPX  ~19% slide
 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-332-219-1430))