Reuters' partial share sale of its Instinet subsidiary is set to raise $464 million as investors line up to take a stake in the electronic brokerage ahead of official trading today.
In an enlarged offering, 32,000,000 shares (excluding the underwriters’ over-allotment option of 4,800,000 shares) were priced at $14.50 per share, giving Instinet an initial market capitalisation of approximately $3.5 billion. The offering was oversubscribed and the price is above the anticipated $11.50 to $13.50 price range.
Trading in Instinet’s common stock is expected to start today on Nasdaq.
Following completion of the IPO, Reuters will hold 206,900,000 shares in Instinet which represents 86.6% of the share capital. The IPO will raise gross proceeds of $464 million for Instinet of which some $150 million will be used for the repayment to Reuters of intercompany debt.