Bridgepoint shares surge in London IPO debut

Zovio

21/07/2021 08:08

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Shares in private equity firm
Bridgepoint  BPTB.L  surged on Wednesday morning for their first
day of trading in London, rising well above the 350 pence per
share price set for the   initial public offering. 
    At 0711 GMT, Bridgepoint shares were trading at 423 pence. 
    The initial 350 pence per share price tag gave the group an
initial market capitalisation of 2.88 billion pounds ($3.92
billion. 
    Bridgepoint's debut as a public company comes at a time when
private equity groups have embarked on a spending spree on
assets around the world and especially in the UK, flush with
cash after they largely sat out the pandemic.
    Bridgepoint, which focuses on mid-sized deals of up to 1
billion euros, was formed in 2000 after a management buyout of
NatWest's private equity arm.

 (Reporting by Julien Ponthus, editing by Abhinav Ramnarayan)
 ((julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com; 02075426189; Reuters
Messaging: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))