Respirator manufacturer CleanSpace has been met with overwhelming demand for its initial public offering, with the company locking in cornerstone investors to list as a business worth $335m.
It is understood that the group is raising $80m and managed to get enough early demand to lock in a price amid its non-deal roadshow.
On an enterprise value basis, CleanSpace will be worth $305m — the top of a price range that was between $275m and $305m.
The group has been met with soaring popularity given the world is in the grip of a global pandemic, with respirators urgently needed, and CleanSpace describes itself as a specialist in innovative and quality respirator design and manufacturing.
DataRoom revealed on July 7 that the business was heading to the boards through Wilsons and Bell Potter.
CleanSpace was established in 2009 by a medical device engineering team with the hope of making respirators safe and reliable. Its respirators are now sold in more than 20 countries.
The group generates about $40m of revenue annually and is currently making a small profit.
CleanSpace is owned by various funds, including the CVC Emerging Companies Fund. The float comes as some of the groups opt to sell down their interests.
While the group’s services are currently in strong demand, the introduction into the market of a COVID-19 vaccine sooner rather than later would have an effect on the group.
Other groups moving forward with their initial public offering plans this week are Aussie Broadband, which has plans to float through Shaw and Partners, and law firm HWL Ebsworth, which has been renamed Alarcon.
Meetings have been booked with fund managers for both businesses, along with the business Cash Rewards, which is floating through Ord Minnett.
The challenge for adviser Macquarie Capital working on the Alarcon float will be getting investors excited about investing in a law firm given listed peers Slater & Gordon, which is worth about $138m, and law firm Shine, which is also listed and worth a similar amount, have had a performance that has been considered underwhelming.
Expectations are that the group will raise about $600m and so far, the pitch to investors has been that it charges the lowest market rates but pays top staff rates, offering services across the board to the top 100 ASX-listed companies.
Incitec fertiliser unit back in BGH’s crosshairs
As BGH Capital continues to eye up acquisition opportunities, one of the more interesting targets it has turned its attention back to is understood to be the fertiliser unit of Incitec Pivot.
Commonwealth Super to offload $2bn data centres stake
Expectations are mounting that Commonwealth Super will end up selling its $2bn-plus stake in the CDC Data Centres business to one of its existing owners, Infratil or the Future Fund.