Spanish residential developer Aedas Homes has made a tepid debut on the Madrid stock exchange in what is Spain's second IPO by a developer since the onset of the financial crisis.
Aedas - owned by US private equity firm Castlelake - sold €665 mln worth of shares priced at the bottom of the €31.65 and €33.15 range, achieving a market cap of just over €1.5 bn.
The company went ahead with the listing despite political turmoil which has rattled financial markets since early September, when Catalonia legislated to form a republic, prompting the central government to move towards direct rule.
Aedas will have a 44-48% free float while its sponsor will retain the majority or a 52-56% share, depending on whether a greenshoe over-allotment option is exercised after the IPO.
CEO David Martínez said demand was three times the amount of shares being offered and largely came from international, institutional investors.
Aedas' portfolio is spread across a number of Spanish regions including Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga, the Balearic Islands, Alicante, Valencia, Seville and Tarragona. Assets in the Catalonia region represent around 16% of the company's gross portfolio value.
The company owns a massive land portfolio which would allow for the development of up to 13,000 homes. Established a year ago, it has as yet sold no homes.
It would be the second IPO by a Spanish residential developer in recent years following Neinor's successful listing in March 2017. Lone Star listed Neinor's shares on the Spanish continuous market in Madrid on 29 March in the largest-ever IPO for a European residential developer.
Priced at €16.46 per share, the oversubscribed IPO gave Neinor a market capitalisation of €1.3 bn. Lone Star retained a 40% share in the residential developer.
