Private equity firm Bridgepoint surges 21% in London debut (updated)

Zovio

21/07/2021 08:39

(Adds further background)
    By Julien Ponthus and Abhinav Ramnarayan
    LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Shares in private equity firm
Bridgepoint  BPTB.L  surged on Wednesday, 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,
up 21% on the day. 
    The 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, flush with cash after largely sitting out
the pandemic. have embarked on a spending spree, with Britain a
favoured target for acquisitions. 
    Bridgepoint, which focuses on mid-sized deals of up to one
billion euros ($1.2 billion), manages 27.4 billion euros across
a range of private equity and debt funds and was formed in 2000
after a management buyout of NatWest’s private equity arm. 
    Its investments include Asia-inspired dining chain Itsu,
cycle retailer Wiggle and Burger King's France and UK outposts. 
  
    The company sold 85.7 million new shares to raise roughly
300 million pounds, with which it plans to fund investment,
assess potential acquisitions and reduce debt. 
    Existing shareholders sold an additional 139.7 million
existing shares, bringing the initial offer size to 789 million
pounds. That sets the freefloat at roughly 27% but it will rise
to around 31.5% if an over-allotment option is exercised in
full. 
    JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley were joint global co-ordinators
on the deal.

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