German Postbank set to unveil IPO details
Postbank, Germany’s biggest retail bank, are set to announce details next week of an initial public offering on June 21, expected to value the group at close to {XEU}6bn (USD7.1bn).
The bank has briefed analysts on the first details of the IPO although no indication has been given yet on pricing.
Germany has seen no IPOs since the float of niche blue-movie business Erotic Media in November 2002, in spite of flotation attempts last month by semi-conductor companies X-Fab and Siltronic. Wincor Nixdorf, the maker of bank ATMs and cash registers, said last week it aimed to list in May. Bankers estimated the company would raise {XEU}500m through the issue.
Among others lined up for listings are bicycle maker Mitteldeutsche Fahrradwerke, regional utility EWE and car parts business ATU.
Postbank’s IPO would be by far the biggest, on a par with the leading European deal so far this year, the listing of Belgian telecoms operator Belgacom in March with a value of {XEU}8.6bn.
One analyst told the FT the estimate by Deutsche Post, Postbank’s owner, that a listing could value the post office bank at up to {XEU}6bn was “quite reasonable” at a multiple of 1.25 times book value. “I think this will be quite an easy sell,” he added.
Postbank is Germany’s leading retail bank, with 11.5m customers, well ahead of Deutsche Bank, with around 8m. Pre-tax profits increased 25 per cent last year to {XEU}497m, at a time when many other banks were still recovering from the heavy bad-debt write-downs of recent years. Postbank’s business is dominated by low-risk deposits.
The bank has signed up a panel of 19 banks to place a stake of up to 49.9 per cent, leaving Deutsche Post with control. No new money will be raised. The IPO will be led by Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley.
