SPIE
Early stage engagement ahead of a successful IPO listing.
SPIE is the European leader in multi-technical services in energy and communications helping its customers design, build, operate and maintain energy-efficient and environmentally friendly facilities.
In 2011 SPIE was sold to a consortium led by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) together with Ardian and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, for a total consideration of € 2.1 billion.
Ahead of a potential IPO of the business in 2014, CD&R introduced h2glenfern to the SPIE executive management team to help them build and develop their equity story in preparation for a stock market listing.
Using the early-stage investment case, J.P.Morgan and UBS were retained as joint advisors and global coordinators in a bank selection process.
h2glenfern’s role was to
- Work alongside the sponsor, management team and the advisors to develop the investment proposition and key messages.
- Assist the advisors to craft the presentation to syndicate analysts
- Support the management team by creating an appropriate dialogue to complement the written documents for investor presentations
- Carry out extensive practice and Q&A session to ensure messages were clear and precise to overcome any language barriers.
Following a sustained period of market turbulence, a decision was taken to shelve the IPO plans, the advisors were stood down and the company carried out a dividend recapitalisation.
h2glenfern’s advice to both the company and to the sponsors was that they should continue to report and publish interim and full-year numbers and financials as if the IPO had gone head and the company was public. Once the markets had stabilised, investors were able to see from the reported information that the investment case remained strong.
After seeing fresh and renewed demand from institutional investors, the IPO was successfully reinstated. In June 2015 the company raised €1 bn through their Euronext listing.
Following the success of the IPO process, h2glenfern was subsequently retained by SPIE to help the company design and maintain a high-quality investor relations interface. This involved helping to craft the messages and materials to support results, annual reports, Capital Markets Days and other investor presentations as well as maintaining regular dialogue with the CEO, CFO and Head of Investor Relations.
