The two major shareholders of Ionos are content with the planned IPO of the web hosting and cloud provider with less money than hoped. The Ionos parent United Internet announced on Friday that, together with the financial investor Warburg Pincus, they would be offering up to 24.15 million shares in a price range of EUR 18.50 to EUR 22.50 each. This results in a maximum issue volume of 543 million euros and a market capitalization of IONOS of 3.15 billion euros. In media reports, a value of around five billion euros had previously been discussed.
“The two major shareholders have made concessions as investors have called for an ‘icebreaker discount,'” said a person familiar with the matter. Ionos would be the first major IPO in Germany since the debut of the sports car manufacturer Porsche last September.
Subscription period begins at the end of January, market value around 3 billion euros
The Internet group United Internet offers a maximum of almost 19 million Ionos shares. Warburg contributes 5.2 million titles. Investors are expected to be able to subscribe to Ionos shares between January 30th and February 7th. After the initial listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange planned for February 8, the free float of Ionos will be 17.3 percent if all the securities offered, including the over-allotment option, are sold. On this basis, Ionos would be a candidate for inclusion in the SDax small-value index.
United Internet holds 75.1 percent of the shares
Ionos has been flirting with jumping onto the trading floor for a long time. In the past year, however, numerous companies had postponed their plans because of the price turbulence on the markets. The volume of emissions in Germany in 2022 was almost entirely due to the sports car manufacturer Porsche. With around 9.4 billion euros, the Volkswagensubsidiary the second largest IPO worldwide.
Now the most recent price recovery is encouraging the stock market candidates again. Since the turn of the year, the Dax has gained almost nine percent, making up for a large part of its losses from 2022. In Europe, Klarna, among others, is in the starting blocks for a stock market debut. In a financing round in May 2022, the Swedish specialist for installment payments was valued at the equivalent of around 30 billion euros.
Ionos relies on a strong subscription model
According to its own statements, Ionos is the market leader in Europe for web hosting for small and medium-sized companies. The lion’s share of revenue comes from subscriptions. Ionos had forecast sales growth of 15 to 18 percent for 2022. In 2021, revenues were 1.1 billion euros.
In the medium term, the stock market candidate expects annual revenue growth averaging ten percent and an adjusted operating profit margin of more than 30 percent. Key Ionos rivals include GoDaddy and OVHCloud.