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Shares in academic research publisher Springer Nature gained on their first day of trading in Frankfurt on Friday morning, with Europe’s first major initial public offering since the summer boosting prospects for equity markets.
Springer Nature’s stock gained nearly 9 per cent to trade at about €24.50 in Frankfurt, having priced the stock in the IPO around the middle of its targeted range at €22.50. The move up in early trading valued Springer at €4.9bn.
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and BC Partners own 53 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively, of the Berlin-headquartered publisher of journals such as Nature and Scientific American. Privately owned Holtzbrinck did not sell any of its shares in the IPO.
Springer’s first day of trading contrasts with the fortunes of some big European IPOs earlier this year. Spanish fashion company Puig Brands and beauty retailer Douglas, Germany’s biggest listing this year, have fallen sharply since they commenced trading and remain down 18.3 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively.
The publisher had delayed a previous plan to float in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but this year joined a list of companies seeking to tap a rebound in investor interest.
The IPO market has been buoyed by falling interest rates, with a backlog of companies whose flotations were delayed during a two-year slump in activity now coming to the market.
On Tuesday, CVC-backed Żabka, Poland’s largest chain of convenience stores, said it hoped to raise 6.45bn zlotys ($1.7bn) in what is expected to be the country’s largest listing since e-commerce retailer Allegro’s $2.8bn IPO in 2020.
Last week Spain’s Europastry, one of the world’s top makers of frozen baked goods, launched its own IPO seeking to raise more than €500mn.
Private equity groups have sought to take advantage of investor appetite to exit their holdings, with flotations earlier this year of Douglas, owned by private equity company CVC, and dermatology group Galderma, controlled by Swedish buyout group EQT, as well as the €2.6bn IPO of Puig in Madrid and the €2bn Amsterdam IPO of CVC.
BC Partners first bought into Springer in 2013. Group revenues were €1.9bn and adjusted operating profit was €511mn in 2023.
Money raised from European IPOs in the first half of 2024 more than quadrupled compared with the same period last year, according to PwC analysis, with 23 IPOs in Europe in the second quarter alone raising €6.6bn.
