Redox, shareholders seek up to US$280 million in Australia IPO

AUSTRALIAN chemical distribution firm Redox and a group of its shareholders are seeking to raise as much as US$280 million in an initial public offering, potentially setting up Australia’s largest listing this year.

The shares are being offered to institutional bidders in a range from A$2.50 (S$2.22) to A$2.70 each, at a multiple of 13.5 times to 14.5 times projected earnings for the 2024 financial year, according to offering documents seen by Bloomberg News. At that price, the IPO would raise between A$395 million and A$424 million, valuing the business at A$1.3 billion to A$1.4 billion, according to the documents.

The IPO will consist of 60 per cent new shares and 40 per cent existing shares, the documents show. The sellers include members of the founding Coneliano family. Orders from priority institutional bidders will be taken until 5 pm Sydney time Monday. UBS Group is the sole global coordinator.

The share sale would be Australia’s largest IPO in 2023, which has seen only 11 companies begin trading, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Just US$61 million worth of IPOs have priced this year to date, compared with US$524 million in the same period in 2022. That’s the lowest since the depths of the pandemic in 2020 when only US$34 million was raised in that time. 

A successful IPO would help set the tone for the remainder of 2023 in Australia, where a number of large companies including Virgin Australia Airlines have been weighing offerings this year.  BLOOMBERG