The initial public offering for IVE will go ahead after its brokers underwrote the $75.6m offer, with the diversified group to enter the ASX likely December 16. Current owners Wolseley Private Equity and the Selig family will remain as the majority owners, with Wolseley holding 38 per cent of the shares and the Seligs 15 per cent. The company is selling 37.8 million shares at $2 a pop, which is 42.5 per cent of Ive, effectively values the business at $177.7m as Wolseley and the Seligs will retain 51.1 million shares between them. The offer values IVE at 4.9-times its forecast 2016 proforma EBITDA and at 8.1-times forecast net profit after tax and amortisation. The company is forecasting revenue of $355.7m, and a net profit of $19m for the current financial year. The 142 page prospectus is available on the company’s website. IVE has three major divisions, each with multiple operating businesses: IVEO  designs, implements and manages seamless multi-channel business communication solutions; Blue Star is print, display, warehousing and logistics, personalised communications and promotional merchandise; and Kalido is a creatively led technology agency that brings together the full spectrum of strategy, creativity, design and technology.

Float on: Geoff Selig, executive chairman, IVE

The success of the float will be regarded as a shot in the arm for the local print industry, and comes at the end of a year which has seen the majority of listed print and packaging entities outperform the ASX after many years in the doldrums, PMP for instance is up 20 per cent on the year. Industry analysts say the positive response from the financial markets comes as the big print businesses have made significant strategic decisions, in many cases to diversify into new related areas.  

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