The Swiss industrial company R&S Group has defied the challenging IPO environment by going public through a Spac transaction. The company, specializing in electrical engineering, experienced a strong start on the Swiss stock exchange, with its shares closing the day with a nearly 13% increase. This marks the first “real” IPO with capital raising on the Swiss stock exchange this year.
R&S Group took a non-traditional route to the stock exchange by offering its shares through a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Spac) transaction. In this case, a listed vehicle called VT5 acquired the company, allowing R&S Group to enter the stock market by slipping into VT5’s corporate structure.
It is noteworthy that such an IPO took place in the current uncertain environment. On one hand, it is the first time a Spac transaction has been conducted in Switzerland. On the other hand, the era of these exotic deals is generally considered to be over. Spacs experienced a boom until the end of 2021, fueled by low interest rates and cheap capital, with notable figures like UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and former Credit Suisse CEO Tidjane Thiam getting involved. However, the enthusiasm has waned, with only four deals conducted in Europe this year compared to 45 in 2021.
The recent Spac transaction involving R&S Group is relatively modest, with the company generating a revenue of 162 million Swiss francs in the first nine months of the year and a market value of around 270 million. It is unlikely that this transaction will significantly improve the sentiment for IPOs in Switzerland, given the unstable market environment. The number of IPOs in the country has declined significantly in the past two years, with notable exceptions being the listings of Sandoz and Accelleron, both of which were spin-offs from major corporations Novartis and ABB, respectively.
VT5 went public in December 2021, when the Spac boom was already cooling down. This may explain why the search for an acquisition target took longer than anticipated.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | Europe |
| Countries | 🇨🇿 🇵🇱 🇮🇹 🇦🇪 🇨🇠|
| Sentiment | neutral |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | None |
| Companies | Strom-Transformatoren, Rauscher and Stöcklin, Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten, Polen, BÖRSENGANG LIGHT, Elektrotechnik-Anbieters, UBS, Accelleron, CS, R&S Group, Sandoz, Novartis, Tschechien, Schweizer Börse, VT5, ABB, Italien, KMU, Dealogic |
| Currencies | None |
| Securities | None |
