The Augsburg gear manufacturer Renk is making a second attempt to go public: This time, Renk is securing the 450 million euro IPO with two anchor shareholders in order to prevent another failure.
One of the two anchor investors is the defense company KNDS, which was formed from KraussMaffei Wegmann (KMW) and the French Nexter Systems, which subscribes to Renk shares for 100 million euros and in return gets a position on the supervisory board, as Renk announced on Monday. KNDS can later increase its share to a blocking minority of 25 percent, but then at a higher price. Renk is scheduled to make his debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
“We want to ensure that Renk remains independent,” said a KNDS spokesman, explaining the commitment. “Renk is one of our most important suppliers.” According to an insider, Renk took care of the anchor shareholder himself. “KNDS is another strong and long-term committed investor who is convinced of Renk’s performance and strategy,” said Renk boss Susanne Wiegand (45). The IG Metall had already discussed a state entry before the first attempt, which surprisingly failed in October, similar to the IPO of the defense electronics specialist Hensoldt.
Triton cashes in, private investors left out of IPO
Renk’s owner, the financial investor Triton, wants to raise a total of 450 million euros. The shares are offered at a fixed price of 15 euros. This corresponds to the lower end of the fall price range. Renk is therefore valued at around 1.5 billion euros, and 30 percent of the securities would come into new hands. The second anchor investor is the US asset manager Wellington Management, which is subscribing to Renk shares for 50 million euros. A third of the issue is thus secured.
After just an hour, the accompanying banks reported that there was enough demand to fill the books once. Institutional investors have two days to subscribe for up to 30 million shares. As is usual with such lightning placements, private investors are left out.
First IPO in Germany this year
Renk would be the first IPO in Germany – and one of the first in Europe – this year. Recently, the investment bankers had regained courage that a window for new issues could open after investors had held back on IPOs for two years, with a few exceptions.
Athens International Airport had its shares at the upper end of the price range on Friday. According to insiders, the cosmetics chain is in Germany Douglas to go public. Douglas and the majority owner CVC are targeting March for the billion-dollar initial listing, said several people familiar with the plans.
Special boom for the arms business
Renk, which formerly belonged to MAN, was sold four years ago Volkswagen sold to Triton for almost 700 million euros. Renk builds large gearboxes and is currently experiencing a boom due to the upgrade. In 2022, gearboxes for tanks and ships accounted for 70 percent of sales of almost 850 million euros.
Renk surprisingly canceled the IPO at the beginning of October on the eve of the planned initial listing. Many investors backed out at the last minute. Now the investment bank Goldman Sachs is moving into the front row among issuing banks alongside Citi, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.