Ive calls off ASX float

Blue Star parent company Ive Group has called off what would have been the biggest stock market float in Australian printing history.

The company blames market volatility for cancelling Thursday’s initial public offering, having fallen short of its $100-112m target.

Ive executive chairman Geoff Selig told ProPrint that while the result is disappointing, the company will try again when market conditions are better.

“It is unfortunate, but the market volatility has been quite pronounced in the past few weeks and has significantly deteriorated recently so we felt it best to postpone,” he says.

“We will watch the market and wait for a better time to proceed. The company continues to have great underlying strength.”

[Related: Ups and downs of Blue Star]

Selig says Thursday’s bidding was ‘not a disaster’ and that there was ‘strong support from key investors’ even if it was not enough this time around.

“I am confident we will reach our target at a more suitable time,” he says.

Brokers Bell Potter and Evans & Partners informed investors on Thursday afternoon before the 4pm bidding deadline that the IPO was being called off.

“Given underlying market conditions, the shareholders of Ive Group have decided to postpone their proposed IPO transaction,” they said.

“Whilst there has been significant support for the IPO from a high quality group of investors right through the marketing period, the current short term volatility in the equity markets has impacted transaction momentum through the course of the past few days.”

The Australian Financial Review had earlier reported that Ive had secured a significant investor ahead of Thursday’s bookbuild, but it would seem there were not enough others to proceed.

The marketing communications company, which includes Australia’s biggest sheetfed printer, had been offering $2 to $2.22 a share to begin trading on July 2 with a $200m market value.

Ive is reportedly forecasting $310.3m revenue and $26 million EBITDA in FY2015, and $355.7m and $37.5m in for 2016.

This makes the aborted offer priced at 9-10 times the $19m forecast 2016 profit and 5.3-5.8 times forecast EBITDA.

Ive is not the only company that has called off going public in recent days for similar reasons – Greenstone pulled its $900m raising and soon after Carter Holt Harvey postponed its IPO.

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