Brenntag To Start Trading on Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Brenntag , the world's largest chemical distributor, will issue shares in its initial public offering at €50 apiece for a total issue value of €747.5 million.
Brenntag, founded in 1874 as an egg trader in Berlin, said on Saturday that all 14.95 million shares offered had been placed and that it would receive €525 million from the capital increase.
The company — whose shares will start trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Monday — previously set the price range for the share issue at €46-56 per share. German-based Brenntag, owned by private equity group BC Partners, will be the fourth company to float successfully on Germany's stock market in 2010, just a day before China's Joyou.
Brenntag is often compared to British distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl, which is valued at about 9 times expected 2011 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), according to Goldman Sachs, one of the IPO's joint global coordinators alongside Deutsche Bank.
Proceeds from Brenntag's IPO will be used to pay a mezzanine loan facility which is due to mature in 2016.
Brenntag is the only chemicals distributor with a global presence. It buys industrial and speciality chemicals in bulk from producers and delivers them in less-than-truckload quantities to makers of food, drugs and cosmetics, among others. It counts about 150,000 customers worldwide, among them Airbus, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.
"What we really are is a one-stop shop for anyone who requires chemicals," said Chief Executive Stephen Clark. He wants to expand the company's market share of 6.9% through acquisitions worth a combined €100-150 million per year, he said, adding that such moves could be financed through the company's cash flow.
