Da Vinci Capital portfolio company Softline Holding plc (LSE: SFTL) has priced its initial public offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange of 53.3 million global depositary receipts (GDRs) representing newly issued Softline ordinary shares.
Admission of the GDRs to trading on the London Stock Exchange is expected to occur on 1 November, 2021.
Softline is a global provider of information technology solutions in the digital transformation and cybersecurity industries.
Softline’s final offering price was USD7.50 per GDR, resulting in IPO proceeds of approximately USD400 million, which the company expects to use to fund acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. Softline’s market capitalisation at start of trading was approximately USD1.5 billion.
Several Da Vinci Capital-managed investment funds hold an overallotment option to sell additional GDRs representing existing Softline ordinary shares. These funds are subject to a lock-up arrangement restricting their disposal of Softline securities for 180 days after Softline’s LSE admission.
Da Vinci Capital Managing Partner, Oleg Jelezko, says: “As Softline’s original institutional investor, we congratulate the company on an IPO that delivers excellent returns for our own funds.”
Softline Founder and Chairman, Igor Borovikov, adds: “We thank Da Vinci Capital for its assistance with preparing Softline to tap the public capital markets. With our IPO now complete, we believe we are well equipped to continue to continue to use M&A as a complement to organic growth and a catalyst to evolve the Group’s digital transformation capabilities, and we look forward to maximising stakeholder value in the future.”
