Hot off the press.. Pricing wise doesn't look too bad.. A bit cheaper than Regis which performed really well recently. Plus Quadrant is known to leave a bit on the table.
Aged care operator Estia Health has priced its initial public offering at 20-to-23-times forecast profit and is set to formally launch the offer on Monday.
It’s understood Estia will lodge a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on Monday, signalling the start of a formal marketing roadshow and ahead of its institutional bookbuild set for December 5.
Estia is expected to price its float from $5.20 a share, which represents 20-times forecast profit, while the top of the range will be at 23-times. The offer is a discount to listed aged care companies Japara Healthcare and Regis Aged Care, which trade at 25-times and 26-times profit respectively.
The IPO is expected to value Estia at about $1 billion, while the precise amount of funds raised will be determined by how many shares are sold by Estia’s largest investor, Quadrant Private Equity.
It is understood Quadrant has committed to keep at least half of its stake, but its exact holding will not be known until after the float prices at the institutional bookbuild.
Estia, and its bookrunners, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and UBS, had secured some large cornerstone investors in recent weeks. Estia’s team has met with fund managers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Boston, New York, London, Sydney and Melbourne over the past fortnight.
Estia is the fifth company Quadrant has listed in the past 18 months. The others – Virtus Health, Burson Auto Parts, iSentia and APN Outdoor – have all traded higher in the secondary market.
