Ireland

It wouldn't be a proper IPO season without a few duds.

Europe’s IPO market took a couple of knocks this week when one flotation was pulled and another traded sharply down on its debut, partly because investor sentiment has cooled. But there was still enough vigour in the market to ensure a successful conclusion to the €3bn re-privatisation of Allied Irish Banks (AIB), write John Loh and Jon Hay.

Allied Irish Banks again tightened guidance on its London and Dublin IPO this evening, moving the lower and upper limits to €4.30 to €4.50 a share.

Multi-tranche deals have been the issuance strategy of choice this week in the corporate bond market. Six of the seven issuers who have brought deals to the European markets in the first three days of this week have opted for such structures, and Reckitt Benckiser is expected to add its name to that list.

Allied Irish Banks has narrowed the price range on its IPO, having attracted a strong response from investors. The flotation is now likely to raise €3.1bn at the upper end of the range.

Greencoat Capital, the renewable energy investment manager, started investor education on Monday for a mid-July listing of a new Irish wind farm vehicle on the London and Dublin bourses, hoping to raise €250m.

The IPO market in EMEA has been unaffected by the political turmoil that has engulfed the UK, after the general election last Thursday resulted in a hung parliament. One of the largest and most important IPOs of the year achieved coverage on the first day of bookbuilding this week, and several more deals have been announced.

The €3bn IPO of Allied Irish Banks, the Irish banking group, was covered at its maximum size including the greenshoe by the end of the first day of the bookbuild on Tuesday. The deal could value the rescued financial institution at up to €13.3bn if it is priced at the top of its range.

The launch of the Allied Irish Bank’s (AIB) IPO by the Irish government should be welcomed as an important landmark in the republic’s astonishing recovery since it emerged from its bailout in 2013.

The Irish government has fired the starting gun for the IPO of Allied Irish Banks (AIB), a potential €3bn deal, even though this means it will be in the market right through the UK general election, writes Aidan Gregory.

The long-awaited re-privatisation of Allied Irish Banks has begun at last, after the Irish government decided to press ahead with the IPO, which could raise about €3bn, in a sign of confidence in Ireland's economic recovery and the European IPO market.

The IPO market in Europe is busy, with the launch of several big deals over the past few days, and the completion of yet another popular Nordic IPO on Wednesday.