Medica IPO Passes $400 Million on Over-Allotment

LONDON (Reuters) – BC Partners and Intermediate Capital Group (ICP.L) said an over-allotment option pushed proceeds from the recent Medica (MDCA.PA) IPO past $400 million, bucking investor caution in the week that three similar deals foundered.

The firms sold extra shares in Medica and increased total IPO proceeds to 313.7 million euros ($425.2 million). Medica, which raised 275.5 million euros last week, has seen its stock rise 13.9 percent since making its market debut.

In the same week, three bigger private equity-led initial public offerings (IPOs) — air-ticketing firm Travelport, UK fashion chain New Look and Merlin Entertainments — were cancelled as investors refused to be “the buyer of last resort”, said a London-based fund manager.

Medica priced the IPO at 13.00 euros per share, about a quarter below the mid-point of a previous price range.

BC Partners was forced to scrap a plan to sell 15 million euros worth of secondary shares and only offloaded shares via the over-allotment option.

Including the over-allotment, about 22.5 million shares, or 47 percent of Medica shares, were sold in total. BC Partners now holds a 45.1 percent stake in Medica, down from 87.7 percent before the listing.

The deal, arranged by BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and RBS (RBS.L), was three times covered. ($1=.7377 Euro) (Reporting by Daisy Ku; editing by Simon Jessop)