By Terje Solsvik and Charlie Conchie
OSLO (Reuters) – Switzerland-based security services firm Verisure said on Wednesday it plans to list on the Stockholm bourse, aiming to raise 3.1 billion euros ($3.7 billion) in what could be one of Europe’s largest initial public offerings in years.
The fundraising will help refinance some of its debt and fund its acquisition of ADT Mexico, it said in a statement.
Verisure was created in 1988 as a division of Swedish security group Securitas called Securitas Direct, which previously went public in 2006. The alarm systems manufacturer’s main owner is now U.S. private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.
The float comes amid a wider resurgence for Europe’s IPO market after a sluggish first half of the year, when several listings were pulled as markets were roiled by trade tensions and fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Verisure said two existing owners, Alba Investments and Securholds Spain, would be participating in the IPO and it expects to raise a combined 235 million from them.
It declined to comment on a potential valuation for the company.
Verisure said it sees substantial room for growth after more than tripling its customer base between 2014 and 2024.
“While we are well-established as the market leader, we are only just getting started with a long runway ahead,” CEO Austin Lally said in the statement.
Adjusted operating profit jumped 24% last year to 819 million euros. Sales climbed 10% to 3.4 billion euros.
Verisure said the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange had concluded that the company had fulfilled the requirements for a listing, adding that full terms and conditions will be included in an IPO prospectus to be published later.
Securitas Direct was bought in 2008 by Swedish private equity firm EQT, which delisted it. EQT then sold it to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman three years later.
In 2014, it was divided into two companies, one of which is Verisure which focuses on home alarms. Hellman & Friedman bought Bain Capital’s stake in Verisure in 2015.
The uptick in European IPOs follows a rash of new listings in the U.S. since the start of September, including Swedish fintech Klarna and crypto exchange Gemini.
Other European listings in the works include Swiss Marketplace Group, which is likely to price its IPO towards the top of its stated price range, a bookrunner said on Wednesday.
The float, which is set to raise roughly 900 million Swiss francs ($1.1 billion), could value the online marketplace operator at up to 4.5 billion Swiss francs, the bookrunner said.
German prosthetics firm Ottobock has also announced plans to list in Frankfurt this year.
($1 = 0.8435 euros)
($1 = 0.7866 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Charlie Conchie; Editing by Stine Jacobsen, Mark Potter and Edwina Gibbs)
