Clessidra’s Anima to pursue IPO

Amy King
31 March 2014

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Italian asset manager Anima, backed by Clessidra, is to pursue a flotation on the Borsa Italiana that could value the asset at up to €1.3bn.

The firm, which received approval from the Italian regulators last week, is expected to float around 63% of its shares.

Anima is owned by Italian GP Clessidra, which holds the firm via Clessidra Partners II, alongside banks Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Banco Popolare di Milano.

Clessidra first backed asset management firm Prima in 2009, taking a 67% stake in the firm with Monte dei Pasci retaining the balance of shares. In 2010, the firm launched a strategic alliance with Anima to create the largest asset manager in Italy.

At the time of the deal, Prima and Anima were valued at €646m and €413m respectively. Following the transaction, Clessidra held a 38.11% stake in the firm through the holding Lauro Quarantadue; Monte dei Paschi held a 23.44% stake and Banco Popolare di Milano retained 36.30%. Anima currently has €46.6bn in assets under management and around a million customers.

Goldman Sachs, Banca IMI, Unicredit and UBS are acting as bookrunners on the IPO.

Italy was home to the strongest market debut of 2013, thanks to the Moncler flotation late in the year – shares in the firm began trading up 40% on the pre-opening price. Based on requests for the stock, the firm opened at €14.40 per share, up from the original €10.20 pricing set the week before trading. The stock closed its first day of trading at €14.97, valuing the company at around €3.7bn.