Biffa reduces IPO share price

U.K.-based hauler cuts share price to salvage its October IPO.


High Wycombe, United Kingdom-based Biffa, which announced an initial public offering (IPO) for publicly traded shares in September 2016, has announced a lower introductory share price for that IPO.

 

Press reports in mid-October say the announcement was made as the shares went to market the week of 17 October 2016. An online article by The Telegraph says the share price reduction was necessary if the IPO was to be salvaged.

 

The waste hauling and recycling firm’s shares began trading at £1.80 (€2.01)earlier this week, below the initially announced target of £2.20 to £2.70 (€2.45 to €3.02).  Biffa was formerly a public company, but was taken private in 2008 by investors that include United States-based Bain Capital.

 

The Telegraph says the share price reduction was necessary to “secure a stock market float that was nearly [canceled] due to lacklustre investor demand in the wake of the Brexit vote.”

 

Biffa describes itself as an integrated waste management company that traces its origins back to 1912. The company says it has invested some £35 million (€39.1 million) in two large material recovery facilities (MRFs) that, combined, process about 400,000 tonnes of recyclables each year.