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Bloomberg
Network International shares surged in London trading after the payments processor raised 1.1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) in an initial public offering that’s the biggest listing in Europe so far this year.
Network International jumped 22 percent to 532.20 pence in London. The Dubai-based company sold 200 million shares for 435 pence each, according to a statement on Wednesday. Mastercard Inc. bought an additional 49.95 million shares as cornerstone investor. The IPO price gave the company a market value of 2.18 billion pounds.
Network International is the first company of scale to list in London this year, a market investors have avoided so far amid concerns around the impact of Britain’s planned exit from the European Union. The first-day jump in the share price is on track to be the biggest since December for an IPO of more than $100 million in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Network’s strong start to life as a public company clearly highlights the positive sentiment
surrounding the technology sector at the moment, particularly the area of digital payments,†said Thomas Fitzgerald, a fund manager at EdenTree Investment Management Ltd. in London.