IPO to value ISS at nearly €4bn

The company is issuing more than 50 million new shares today, with an additional 1 million existing shares placed by EQT and Goldman Sachs. The fully subscribed offering will amount to around DKK 8.2bn, rising to DKK 9.4bn if the overallotment option is exercised in full. The initial price range had been set at between DKK 140-175.

ISS decided to complete its IPO on Thursday rather than Friday as previously planned, due to strong investor demand. The offering to retail investors closed on Tuesday and the sale of shares to institutional investors closed on Wednesday.

ISS is the largest company to launch an IPO in Denmark since telecoms operator TDC listed in 1994. The company has attempted to list twice previously; EQT scrapped plans to return the company to the public markets in 2007 due to market instability. There were market speculations regarding a possible IPO and sale with Apax as potential buyers, but nothing materialised and there was no formal intention to float (ITF) process involved.

The owners of ISS tried to list the company again in March 2011. An ITF was issued but right before final pricing the attempt was postponed in the wake of the severe Tokyo earthquake. In late 2011 a reverse takeover by G4S was aborted as it did not receive investor approval.

Previous funding
EQT and Goldman Sachs acquired ISS for €2.9bn in 2005. In August 2012, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Kirkbi Invest acquired a 26% stake in ISS for DKK 3.7bn. EQT and Goldman Sachs remained majority owners after the deal.

Company
Founded in 1901, ISS is a facility services company that provides cleaning, support, property, catering, security and facility management services in Europe, Asia, the US, Latin America and across the Pacific. The company had a turnover of close to €10bn in 2012.

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• Topics
• Nordics
• Exits
• Support services
• EQT
• Denmark
• IPO