HSS valued at £325m on market debut
HSS Hire, the equipment and tool rental group has made its debut as a listed company as shares began trading at 210p.
The company, which has its biggest concentration of staff in Manchester with the majority working at a national customer service centre on Trafford Park, has raised £103m through the IPO. Shareholders including its private equity backer Exponent and the senior management team will collect £11m.
The stock made an unspectacular start though, and was trading at 205p in the first hour.
Although at 210p per share the pricing was at the lower-end of the expected range, HSS Hire will have a market capitalisation of £325m. After the deal Exponent will remain its largest shareholder with just over 50%.
Chris Davies, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to have completed the IPO process successfully and, with proceeds from the offer enabling us to accelerate our growth, we are excited about our future as a listed business.
“Our focus now will be on executing our proven strategy, and building on our established track record of industry-leading growth and returns on assets, for the benefit of all our shareholders.”
The company said 81% of the offer has been allocated to institutional investors and 19% to retail investors.
Retail investors who applied for up to £100,000 of shares have been allocated in full. Those who applied for more than £100,000 have been allocated 47,619 Shares (worth £99,999.90 at the offer price) plus 75% of the amount applied for in excess of that figure, rounded down to the nearest whole Share.
