Finally Some Good IPO News: Shares of Apollo-Backed Evertec Jump 10% in Debut

(Reuters) – Shares of Evertec Inc. (NYSE: EVTC) rose as much as 10 percent in their market debut, valuing the payment processor at $1.75 billion a day after it priced its IPO at the top end of the expected price range.

Puerto Rico-based Evertec priced its 25.3 million shares at $20 each, raising about $505 million. Shares of the company were expected to be priced in a range of $18 to $20. Evertec had previously intended to sell 21.1 million shares.

Evertec shares were up 8 percent at $21.61 in early trading on Friday. More than 7 million shares had changed hands, making the stock the most heavily traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Evertec is the latest company to be taken public by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC, which acquired it from Puerto Rican lender Popular Inc. in September 2010. Apollo held a 51 percent stake in the company prior to the IPO, with Popular holding the rest.

With the IPO, Apollo holds about 37 percent of Evertec and Popular owns 35.5 percent.

Global equity fundraising rose 24 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, helped by strong markets and easing concerns about the economy that encouraged more companies to raise capital through IPOs and other capital market transactions.

Private equity-backed companies have been offering shares as U.S. stock markets reached record highs, helping boost U.S. IPO volumes by 65 percent so far this quarter. Apollo itself has taken companies including Realogy Holdings Corp. and Berry Plastics Group Inc. public in the past year.

Evertec processes over 1.8 billion transactions annually and manages the electronic payment network for over 4,100 automated teller machines and over 104,000 point-of-sale payment terminals.

It reported adjusted net income of $84.4 million on revenue of $341.7 million in 2012.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were the lead underwriters for the offering.

By Reuters staff

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