Azelis SA, a chemical distributor, and its shareholders raised €1.77 billion ($2.1 billion) in the biggest Belgian initial public offering since 2007.
The shares priced at €26 ($30.6), at the top end of the initial range, and will start trading on Friday, according to a statement Thursday. The IPO values Azelis at €6.1 billion ($7.2 billion).
The company raised €880 million ($1.04 billion) from the deal. Shareholders including Swedish private equity firm EQT AB and Canada’s PSP Investments received €891 million ($1.05 billion), which includes an option to increase the deal size worth €231 million ($272 million).
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are joint global coordinators, with bookrunners Barclays Plc, BNP Paribas SA, HSBC Holdings Plc and ING Bank NV on Azelis’ offering. Cooperatieve Rabobank and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg are co-lead managers, while Lazard Ltd. is Azelis’s financial adviser.
Azelis is the sixth-largest chemicals distributor in the world and has a long history of private-equity ownership. The firm had been examining a listing for 2017-19 when it was owned by Apax Partners, and again in 2018 when it was acquired by buy-out house EQT.
Together with borrowings from new group credit facilities, proceeds from the offering will allow Azelis to pay down part of its €1.6 ($1.88 billion) billion outstanding debt, with the funding and capital markets access expected to help future acquisitions.
The company has been an active acquirer in the fragmented chemicals distribution space as it increased its focus on specialties and food ingredients, carrying out 21 purchases between January 2018 and June 2021.