June 2008

A jump start for Portugal’s IPO market

by Jethro Wookey

Initial public offerings were just gaining momentum when turmoil stopped the market in its tracks. Jethro Wookey asks if the largest IPO in western Europe this year can get the wheels moving again?


A fair wind? The question hanging over EDP Renováveis’s IPO is: will it spur on the overall market in Portugal?

AS EUROMONEY WENT to press, Energias de Portugal (EDP), the Portuguese utility company, had just launched an IPO of its renewable energy unit, EDP Renováveis. Initial suggestions were that the deal, worth up to €2 billion depending on the final issue price, had been well received. As of May 26, the retail tranche, comprising 20% of the overall deal for 25% of the company’s share capital, was 74.6 times oversubscribed. EDP Renováveis said that it had received orders for 3.36 billion shares with just 45.08 million on offer.

The deal is the first IPO in Portugal since the turmoil in global financial markets accompanying the credit crisis brought a shuddering halt to what was an increasingly...


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