Fairfield pulls IPO, cites market conditions
Friday, 16 July 2010
LONDON, July 15 (Reuters); British oil and gas firm Fairfield Energy has shelved plans for a 500-million-dollar stock market listing, the company said Thursday, after weak markets spooked potential investors.
"In the light of market conditions, (Fairfield) has decided against proceeding with its initial public offering of shares and listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange at this time," the company said.
Fairfield, controlled by private equity companies led by Warburg Pincus, had offered shares at 220-420 pence, valuing the firm at up to $1.1 billion.
The lack of demand for Fairfield bodes ill for the initial public offering (IPO) market as its shares were offered at a discount to the company's peers at the lower end of the range.
The range valued the shares at between 0.55 and 0.7 times net asset value (NAV). Rival EnQuest trades at around 0.
The next major British IPO, due next week and likely to be the last before the summer hiatus, is online grocer Ocado which has been criticized by many analysts and fund managers for an aggressive valuation.
A spokesperson for Ocado insisted Thursday the listing is proceeding as planned.
"The Ocado team have had a great reception in the United States and are continuing with a busy roadshow schedule during which the management team are meeting a very large number of potential investors," the spokesperson said.
Fairfield announced plans to float and raise up to $500 million last month, with the proceeds to be spent on boosting production from its North Sea oil fields, exploration and possible acquisitions.
Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were joint global co-ordinators on the deal.
Books closed on the sale at around 1530 GMT Wednesday after which the company's board met to decide on how to proceed.
"They just weren't prepared to sell it cheap," a source close to the company said Thursday.
Fairfield's troubles contrast with the successful listing this week of German advertising group Stroeer which priced in the middle of its price range in a 394-million-euro IPO, trading higher on its debut Thursday.
The deal, run by a syndicate of banks led by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley saw US private equity group Cerberus CBS.UL sell its whole stake in the company for around 83 million euros.
"In the light of market conditions, (Fairfield) has decided against proceeding with its initial public offering of shares and listing on the main market of the London Stock Exchange at this time," the company said.
Fairfield, controlled by private equity companies led by Warburg Pincus, had offered shares at 220-420 pence, valuing the firm at up to $1.1 billion.
The lack of demand for Fairfield bodes ill for the initial public offering (IPO) market as its shares were offered at a discount to the company's peers at the lower end of the range.
The range valued the shares at between 0.55 and 0.7 times net asset value (NAV). Rival EnQuest trades at around 0.
The next major British IPO, due next week and likely to be the last before the summer hiatus, is online grocer Ocado which has been criticized by many analysts and fund managers for an aggressive valuation.
A spokesperson for Ocado insisted Thursday the listing is proceeding as planned.
"The Ocado team have had a great reception in the United States and are continuing with a busy roadshow schedule during which the management team are meeting a very large number of potential investors," the spokesperson said.
Fairfield announced plans to float and raise up to $500 million last month, with the proceeds to be spent on boosting production from its North Sea oil fields, exploration and possible acquisitions.
Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were joint global co-ordinators on the deal.
Books closed on the sale at around 1530 GMT Wednesday after which the company's board met to decide on how to proceed.
"They just weren't prepared to sell it cheap," a source close to the company said Thursday.
Fairfield's troubles contrast with the successful listing this week of German advertising group Stroeer which priced in the middle of its price range in a 394-million-euro IPO, trading higher on its debut Thursday.
The deal, run by a syndicate of banks led by JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley saw US private equity group Cerberus CBS.UL sell its whole stake in the company for around 83 million euros.