IPO WATCH:Spain Lottery In Jumbo Deal; DP World Heads To London
May 26 2011 - 10:22AM
Dow Jones News
Spain this week moved forward with plans to privatize its
national lottery through an initial public offering, while
Dubai-based ports operator DP World (DPW.DIF) closed in on a
long-awaited London listing.
Spain on Wednesday appointed Rothschild as financial adviser on
a share sale for Sociedad Estatal de Loterias y Apuestas del Estado
SA that is seen valuing the company at up to EUR25 billion. A 30%
stake sale would make it the country's largest IPO on record, and
one of the largest to date in Europe.
The deal is a key component of Spain's plan to cut its budget
deficit to 6% of gross domestic product this year and to 4.4% in
2012. GDP was 9.2% in 2010. In addition to Loterias, Spain will
privatize its two largest airports, with the proceeds also going to
pay down debt.
Government-controlled DP World on Wednesday said it expects to
list its share on the London Stock Exchange June 1, in a bid to
lift its international profile and boost liquidity. The
Dubai-traded shares have gained about 30% in the past three months,
as investors grew more confident it would benefit from increasing
global container traffic and an improving world economy.
DP World isn't raising any new capital. It had planned to bring
the listing last year but postponed it until 2011 to make sure
technology would be in place to allow seamless trading of the
shares in the two hubs.
Commodities giant Glencore International PLC (GLEN.LN) continued
to dominate headlines this week, after having raised $10 billion
last week in London and Hong Kong. Its shares were formally
admitted to trade in London on Tuesday and Hong Kong on Wednesday,
with both exchanges registering slides from the stock's pricing at
530 pence a week ago.
At 1400 GMT, Glencore shares were down slightly on the day, at
520 pence.
In Germany, Munich-based real estate company Prime Office said
it will start marketing an IPO by mid-July. The company is expected
to raise around EUR400 million in new and existing shares. It will
convert to a real estate investment trust at the time of
listing.
In secondary offerings, private equity group BC Partners on
Thursday raised EUR215 million by selling a 28.1% stake in French
nursing homes operator Medica SA (MDCA.FR), leaving with only about
a 3% stake.
BC Partners took Medica public in February 2010 at EUR13 a
share. It sold the shares Thursday at EUR16 apiece.
-By Margot Patrick, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 20 7842 9451;
margot.patrick@dowjones.com
(Christopher Bjork in Madrid contributed to this article.)