Lone Star's Balta launches €476m IPO

The final offer price for the IPO was set at €13.25 per share, Balta said in a statement. This is at the lower-end of the €13.25-13.75 price range set before the IPO. Market cap will stand at €476m.

The gross proceeds resulting from the new shares sold by the company should amount to around €145m, while the net proceeds are expected to reach approximately €137.6m.

Lone Star will sell approximately 4 million shares in the offering, with a lock-up period of 180 days for the sale of further shares.

The business intends to use profits made through the offering to reduce its leverage and repay existing debt, and to finance its international expansion.

After completion of the offering, Balta expects to have readjusted its net debt to a 2.5x EBITDA multiple. Balta recorded a €668m turnover in 2016, up from €520m in 2014, while its EBITDA increased from €64.9m to €97m over the same period.

Previous funding
In 2015, Doughty Hanson (now known as DH Private Equity) sold Balta to Lone Star Funds after more than 10 years as majority shareholder. The deal was the eighth exit for Doughty's fourth fund, Doughty Hanson & Co Fund IV.

Doughty Hanson had acquired Balta in 2004 in a primary buyout transaction that valued the group at €600m (5.7x EBITDA at the time), securing a 70% stake.

Company
Founded in 1964 and based in Brussels, Balta manufactures mechanically woven rugs, wall-to-wall carpets and carpet tiles. It employs 3,300 staff across eight production facilities worldwide, which includes six locations in Belgium, two in Turkey and a distribution site in the US. Balta posted revenues of €668m in 2016, with an adjusted EBITDA of €97m.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Exits
• Benelux
• Consumer
• IPO
• Benelux
• Belgium
• Doughty Hanson & Co
• Lone Star Funds