The successful listing of CVC is just further proof that the European IPO market is finally getting on its feet. The company’s shares were officially listed on Euronext Amsterdam late last week under the ticker code “CVC” and have already appreciated by a full 25% on the first day of trading.
The shares started trading at over EUR 17 (USD 18.25) per share, well above the EUR 14 offer price, confirming the strong investor interest in the company. The IPO is widely expected to be one of the largest in Europe this year. “It’s a very strong signal of the return of IPOs in Europe, especially in continental Europe,” Euronext CEO Boujnah told CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Friday.
Investor demand has come from mutual funds, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds and pension funds of large insurance companies in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East, a person familiar with the process told Reuters. CVC shares gained more than 25% during the first day and are trading at EUR16.23 at the time of writing.
The company is expected to raise a total of EUR 2 to 2.3 billion as investors from all over the world are interested in its shares. “We are very pleased to have received strong support for our IPO from our new and existing shareholders,” CVC CEO Rob Lucas said in a statement. “It’s a testament to the tremendous amount of hard work we’ve put in over the past 40 years to build CVC.” The IPO is expected to generate millions of dollars in profits for some of the company’s founders while helping it raise assets beyond the €186 billion it manages.
