Reliance Worldwide shares soar on ASX debut

Reliance chief Heath Sharp. Pic: Jeremy Piper

Plumbing giant Reliance Worldwide’s shares soared on debut as investors threw their weight behind the largest listing on the Australian Securities Exchange this year.

The firm hit the ASX boards with a $1.3 billion market value after tapping the IPO market for $918.8 million earlier this week.

It quickly jumped abovea $1.5bn valuation however, as investors expressed hope it would continue to deliver strong growth.

Reliance stock closed at $2.95, up 18 per cent from its $2.50 listing price.

It reached a peak of $2.98 during the session.

The positive showing came as little surprise to market watchers as Reliance had been forced to significantly scale back applications in this week’s bookbuild, even after pricing at the top end of its $2.27-$2.50 indicative range.

The 67-year-old Melbourne-headquartered plumbing outfit is the world’s largest manufacturer of push-to-connect plumbing fittings and services the European, North American and New Zealand markets as well as Australia.

The development is the latest boon for the lacklustre IPO market in Australia, coming on the heels of WiseTech Global’s strong debut earlier this month.

Overall deal flow has been down for the year, but those that have come online have outperformed the broader market.

A first quarter report released by Deloitte on Tuesday revealed new listings had gained an average of 7.6 per cent, comfortably beating out the 4 per cent loss for the broader market.