French cable operator Numericable has hailed its partial IPO a success saying the offering was more than 10 times oversubscribed with strong demand from both French and institutional investors.
The listing price was set at the top end of the initial…
French cable operator Numericable has hailed its partial IPO a success saying the offering was more than 10 times oversubscribed with strong demand from both French and institutional investors.
The listing price was set at the top end of the initial €20.30-€24.80 range. Overall, the offering amounts to €652.2m (US$874.6m) and this could be increased to €750m (US$1bn) if the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the cableco said in a statement.
The employee offering was subscribed for about €1m (US$1.34m), equivalent to €19.84 per share.
The offering is split between a €250m capital increase and a €402.2m sale of existing shares by private equity firms Carlyle and Cinven, two of Numericable’s three investors. Pre-IPO, both firms owned approximately 37.5% of the company each.
Trading in the shares will begin today on NYSE Euronext in Paris. Once the offering is completed, and if the over-allotment option is fully exercised, Carlyle will own 26% of Numericable, Cinven 18%, and 24% will be in free float. French businessman Patrick Drahi’s Altice, Numericable’s third investor, will see its stake increase from 24% to 30%.
Commenting on the IPO, Numericable CEO Eric Denoyer said: “We are very pleased with the success of Numericable Group’s IPO, which reflects investor confidence in the group’s performance and in our ability to benefit from the expected continued growth of the high speed broadband market.
Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are global coordinators on the offering, while Credit Agricole, HSBC and Morgan Stanley are joint bookrunners. Jefferies, Nomura and Oddo are also working on the transaction.
Numericable said it had revenues of €1.3bn in 2012. According to reports, the company’s 2012 EBITDA of €590.8m gives it a post-IPO EV/EBITDA valuation between 8.6x and 9.4x. Similar cablecos are trading at an average of 9.5x EBITDA, according to research from Espirito Santo.
Cinven and Altice jointly acquired Numericable in 2006. A year later they snapped up French enterprise-focused telco Completel, which was later merged with the cableco. Carlyle bought into the businesses in 2008 by investing €1.1bn.
Other options, as opposed to an IPO, had been explored for Numericable. In late February, it was suggested that Numericable was preparing a cash offer for Vivendi’s telecoms unit SFR. Rival carrier Bouygues had also been tipped as a potential acquirer of Numericable.
High investor demand in the IPO had therefore been expected as the cableco, which offers TV, internet and fixed-line services, could get involved in a deal or explore synergy opportunities with other telcos in the future.
The European cable industry has seen increased deal activity this year, including US cableco Liberty Global’s purchase of UK-based counterpart Virgin Media for around US$23.3bn. Meanwhile, Vodafone recently completed its acquisition of Germany’s KDG. And last year, Dutch cable company Ziggo was floated in a €925m transaction.
