EQT confirms IPO plans, aims to raise €500m

The announcement confirms earlier reports that the firm would aim to list in Stockholm this year, although EQT has not publicly set out a timeline for the IPO. Unquote understands that EQT will push for a listing before the end of October, as the current 31 October deadline for Brexit is expected to disrupt global markets around that time.

The planned IPO will encompass a new-share issuance, seeking to raise primary proceeds of at least €500m. Existing shareholders will also sell shares in the listing; these include EQT's largest shareholder Investor AB (which currently has a 23% stake) and a group of around 70 partners. 

In total, EQT is looking to float around 20% of the business. EQT has not publicly set out a valuation target, with the market expecting it to be in the region of €4bn.

The firm said in a statement that an IPO would increase its financial flexibility, enabling it to expand across geographies and investment strategies. Other expected benefits include an increased profile among public investors and limited partners, the ability to invest in staff, access to capital markets, a broader ownership base, and a more transparent governance structure.

JP Morgan and SEB are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Nordea and UBS are acting as joint bookrunners and ABG Sundal Collier, Merrill Lynch and BNP Paribas are acting as co-lead managers in the contemplated IPO.

Advokatfirman Vinge and Davis Polk & Wardwell London are legal advisers to EQT. Linklaters is legal adviser to the coordinators, bookrunners and co-lead managers.

EQT currently has around €40bn in assets under management (AUM) across 19 active funds and multiple strategies. For the six-month period ending in June 2019, it generated revenues of €295m, adjusted EBITDA of €140m and adjusted profit of €109m.

EQT's latest flagship buyout fund, EQT VIII, hit its €10.75bn hard-cap at a first and final close in February 2018. The fund was launched in September 2017, targeting €8bn. In other strategies, EQT Infrastructure IV held a final close on a hard-cap of €9bn in March 2019. EQT Mid-Market Credit Fund II was registered in March 2017 and closed at the end of last year on €2.3bn.

Should the listing go ahead and prove successful, EQT will be the largest European PE firm to become listed – other organisations that have gone down the public road already include the likes of CapMan (€3bn in AUM), Eurazeo (€17bn in AUM), Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (€1.8bn in AUM) and Gimv (€1.6bn in AUM). The practice is more commonplace in the US where PE giants Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR have gone public.

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