Allfunds surges more than 10% on Amsterdam debut

Allfunds' stock rose 12.8% at 12.97 euros on Euronext, having briefly risen above 13 euros

Shares in Spanish fund distribution firm Allfunds jumped more than 10% on their Amsterdam debut, in a boost to an IPO market dented by last month's disastrous Deliveroo listing.

Allfunds is among the biggest IPOs in Europe so far this year, along with the completed listings of Deliveroo and Vantage Towers, Vodafone's towers business.

Friday's listing is a big win for Amsterdam, which has emerged as an early beneficiary after Brexit dented London's spot as the IPO venue of choice for European companies.

Allfunds' stock rose 12.8% at 12.97 euros on Euronext, having briefly risen above 13 euros. The surge in Allfunds shares came in during an otherwise flat market, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index declining 0.1%.

Allfunds had priced its initial public offering (IPO) at 11.50 euros per share, giving the company a valuation of nearly 7.2 billion euros ($8.7 billion) after announcing plans to float 25% of its shares on the Dutch bourse.

Although the European IPO market enjoyed its best quarter since 2015 in the first three months of 2021, with $19.55 billion raised, a disappointing debut by Deliveroo in London amplified concerns around whether this momentum can last.

Initially, Allfunds had set a price guidance of 10.50-12 euros per share, which would have given it a valuation of up to 7.553 billion euros. But it pared that down in a nod towards a more selective and cautious IPO market.

We weren't going to push pricing more than is natural and investors reacted positively to that decision, a source familiar with the transaction said. There's not much hot money in the market at the moment, though that does not mean investors are not being very engaged on assets they really like, he added.

Funds affiliated with private-equity owner Hellman & Friedman, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and lenders Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas are among shareholders who are selling shares as part of the Allfunds IPO.