The internet and mobile phone provider United Internet is pushing ahead with the IPO plans for its web hosting subsidiary Ionos despite the idle emissions market. The company bought the investment banks JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Berenberg and BNP Paribas have been selected to prepare for the IPO, which is planned for next year, two people familiar with the plan told Reuters on Friday. Bloomberg was the first to report it.
The banks considered a market value of around four billion euros for Ionos to be realistic, the insiders said. The US competitor GoDaddy is valued at a good eleven billion dollars on the New York Stock Exchange.
Ionos could be worth more on the stock exchange than the main shareholder United Internet
For comparison: United Internet, which holds 75.1 percent of Ionos, has a market capitalization of 3.6 billion euros. On Friday, the share rose by four percent to 20.28 euros. United Internet and the banks mentioned did not want to comment on the information.
Ionos wants to present itself to potential investors and analysts at a capital market day in London next Tuesday. United Internet announced in September that it would select the accompanying banks for the issue, which is planned for 2023.
The IPO is “the next logical step” for the cloud subsidiary, in which the financial investor Warburg Pincus holds a 24.9 percent stake.
It usually takes five to six months from the mandate to the first listing. This means that Ionos could go public around Easter 2023 – if the markets play along. Hardly any German company dared to make the leap onto the trading floor this year due to the violent fluctuations on the stock market. The big exception was the sports car manufacturer Porsche, whose shares met with raving demand.