Sanlorenzo shares start trading at €16 each after IPO confirmed

Massimo Perotti, executive chairman and of Sanlorenzo and EY award winner, remains the majority shareholder after the IPO.

Sanlorenzo’s shares began trading at €16 each on the Italian stock exchange, the Borsa Italiana, on Wednesday December 11, after the superyacht builder confirmed its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The price at which trading started implied a total market capitalisation to €552m, which included a capital increase of €72m. The offering comprised 4.5m newly-issued shares, resulting from a capital increase with exclusion of pre-emption rights, and 7.6m shares offered for sale by Holding Happy Life S.r.l. This is the company’s majority shareholder and is controlled by Massimo Perotti, executive chairman of Sanlorenzo.

Majority shareholder

Perotti, who was named as Italy’s Entrepreneur of the Year in November by EY, will remain Sanlorenzo’s majority shareholder.

“Today, we reached an important milestone and we are very proud of it,” Perotti said in a statement to the Borsa Italiana. “We have achieved such an important goal as the listing on the stock exchange and I would like to thank all our collaborators who supported us during this journey. The listing on the Stock Exchange represents a fundamental step for Sanlorenzo, and a new starting point for growth and development on international markets.”

The luxury yacht company reported “strong interest” for the offering from the Italian and international investor community, with demand at the offer price for about €290m by leading qualified investors. About two thirds of the demand was said to come from international investors and about a third from Italian investors.

Sanlorenzo’s majority shareholder

Last year Sanlorenzo reported sales of €327m with pre-tax earnings of €38m – which included €3.6m of extraordinary costs – to deliver an 11.6% margin. This year the business is forecasting an even strong performance, with first half sales in the first six months of this year reaching €205m. Total sales for this year are forecast at between €430m and €568m, with a 14%-15% margin.

Meanwhile, in October, fellow Italian superyacht builder Ferretti Group ditched plans to list 30% of its share capital on Borsa Italiana in an IPO. It originally planned to list the shares (common stock) at between €2.5 and €3.7 apiece – which would have valued the company at more than €1bn. Ferretti’s revised plan is to sell part of the company to a single, as-yet unnamed investor.