Kongsberg completes IPO

Norwegian car parts maker Kongsberg Automotive completed its IPO with a book six times covered. The offer raised a total of NKr667m (US$101.5m) for the selling shareholders, which could rise to NKr767m if the greenshoe option is exercised.

All the shares were sold by private equity shareholders FSN Capital and BancBoston, although both remain shareholders in the company. The offer was well subscribed but the sellers chose not to push the valuation and set pricing near the bottom of the range. The 14.5m-share base deal was priced at NKr46 from a range of NKr45–NKr49.

The sellers had already shown their willingness to sell below this level when they completed a private placement in the company last month at NKr45 per share. The greenshoe makes a further 2.175m shares available to lead manager Carnegie. The deal price gives the company an implied market capitalisation of NKr2.04bn. Although only 33% of the capital was placed in the IPO, the company has a free-float of 55% resulting from the pre-placement in May.

The deal attracted significant interest domestically, with just under 30% going to Norwegian names and a similar amount to UK investors. US investors were also significant, with these three constituents taking a total of 75% of the book. The rest was widely spread across Europe. The stock had risen on the first day of trading on Friday to NKr48 by lunchtime. First Securities was co-lead manager.