This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSTRUCTION company Valemus, derived from the Latin word which means strong and healthy, has had cold feet and pulled its $1.39 billion IPO.
Earlier last month, its German parent company Bilfinger Berger AG proposed to list Valemus on the ASX.
Valemus is the parent company of construction firms Abigroup, Baulderstone and Conneq.
The postponed IPO follows an unsuccessful campaign by Bilfinger Berger to sell the company privately. Lend Lease reportedly conducted due diligence over the business.
Valemus had offered 555 million fully paid ordinary shares at an indicative price range of $2.20 – $2.50, to raise between $1.22 billion – $1.39 billion.
But the recent weakness in the sharemarket saw analysts talk down the IPO and it was reported that the company was priced at the lower end of $2.20 – $2.50 price range.
This meant Valemus was valued at $1.22 billion and Bilfinger had hoped it would list at a premium price.
In an announcement made to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Bilfinger cited adverse local and global sharemarket conditions for the reason behind the 11th decision to postpone the IPO.
Bilfinger said it was not willing to accept an undervalued price.
“Bilfinger Berger’s asking price for the Australian business cannot realistically be achieved in light of the current adverse conditions on the stock exchange” chairmain Herbert Bodner said.
“We are not under pressure to sell and have always emphasized that we would not part with our successful Australian business at an undervalued price,” he added.
Bodner said postponing the IPO does not change the company’s decision to sell the Australian subsidiary and, thereby, to significantly reduce the volume of the construction business.
Locally, Valemus CEO Peter Brecht said the company’s management team met with a large number of institutions both locally and abroad in the past month and received positive feedback from investors.
“However due to the current adverse equity market conditions, we understand why Bilfinger Berger AG has taken the decision to postpone the IPO,” he added.
In the meantime and until market conditions improve, Brecht said the company will continue to operate as a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger AG, as it has done for the past 13 years.
Australian Property Journal