By Charlie Conchie LONDON (Reuters) -Princes Group made a subdued trading debut on Friday after the food producer priced its IPO at the lower end of a marketed range, in a sign of investor caution for
Princes Group makes subdued start to trading in London IPO
Overview of Princes Group's IPO
By Charlie Conchie
Initial Trading Performance
LONDON (Reuters) -Princes Group made a subdued trading debut on Friday after the food producer priced its IPO at the lower end of a marketed range, in a sign of investor caution for one of London's largest listings this year.
Financial Goals and Future Plans
Princes' shares rose 1% at the start of trading before reversing course and dropping 1%.
Comparative Market Activity
The Liverpool-based owner of Napolina pasta and tinned tuna brand Princes raised around 420 million pounds in the share sale after pricing its shares at 475 pence each, valuing the company at 1.16 billion pounds ($1.56 billion).
The previously announced range was between 475 pence and 590 pence per share.
Princes Group intends to use the proceeds to finance further acquisitions, according to its prospectus.
The IPO is among London’s biggest in recent years and comes amid signs of a revival in activity on London’s markets.
Alternative lender Shawbrook floated at a valuation of 1.9 billion pounds on Thursday, near the middle of its target price range, while cosmetic tech firm Beauty Tech Group floated earlier this month.
Shawbrook shares jumped nearly 7% on their first day of trading, while Beauty Tech shares have lost nearly 6% since listing, according to LSEG data.
Princes Group, which has become one of Europe's biggest grocery suppliers in recent decades through nearly two dozen acquisitions and mergers, is looking to deliver 1 billion to 1.5 billion pounds in incremental revenue growth through acquisitions over the medium term, according to its prospectus.
It was bought by Milan-listed Newlat Food in 2024 for 700 million pounds. Newlat subsequently changed its name to New Princes Group.
Last year Princes Group generated pro forma revenues of 2.1 billion pounds, according to accounts in its prospectus.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
(Reporting by Charlie Conchie, additional reporting by Yamini Kalia and Joice Alves; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Susan Fenton)
