Europe's dormant IPO markets see some action.
The dormant market for European initial public offerings (IPOs) burst to life in April with a pair of payment processors—Italy’s Nexi and Dubai-based Network International—listing in Milan and London, respectively. The demand for payment processing has grown as consumers switch to digital forms of payment.
Nexi raised $2.3 billion in its listing, which was Europe’s largest IPO so far this year. A mixture of existing and new shares was sold in the offering, which valued Nexi at $8.25 billion. Global coordinators of the IPO included Bank of America, Credit Suisse, Banca IMI, Goldman Sachs, and Mediobanca.
Nexi, Italy’s largest payment-processing firm, has a 60% market share in card issuing and it partners with about 150 Italian banks.
Network International raised $1.4 billion in its IPO, which enabled Emirates NBD, Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic to reduce their stakes in the company. The listing, which valued Network International at about $3 billion, was the first international listing on the London Stock Exchange so far this year. Another UAE-based payment company, Finablr, said it also was planning a London listing to raise $200 million from the sale of new stock, with some existing shares also to be offered.
