FRANCE - Wendel consortium prepares Legrand's EUR 1.8bn IPO

Wendel Investissement is planning Legrand’s IPO, which has been valued at around EUR 1.8bn. Owing to the current good performances of the French financial markets, coupled with the fact that Legrand’s revenues are forecast to exceed EUR 3bn this year, it is thought that the listing will take place in April 2006. BNP Paribas, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have been mandated to run the listing, which has been rumoured to value Legrand at around EUR 9bn or more. Following the IPO, minority shareholders Goldman Sachs, WestLB and Montagu Private Equity will exit their stakes. Wendel and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) will reduce their stakes to retain around 20-30% each.