Under the new name of Alstom, GEC-Alsthom has launched its international flotation on the London, Paris and New York stock exchanges. The group was formed in 1989 as a 50 - 50 joint venture by the UK’s GEC plc and Alcatel Alsthom SA of France. The shares have been priced at FF205 ($34.29), around the middle of the range quoted prior to the issue.
Some 110 million shares are to be issued in the IPO of which almost 10 million will be new shares issued by Alstom. The total share offering represents 52% of the company’s share capital and will reduce the stakes held by GEC and Alcatel Alsthom to 24%.
The offering should raise FF25 billion ($4.18 billion) for the parent companies, which hold a total of 210 million shares, with analysts estimating the total value of the company at over $7 billion.
As part of the share flotation the Cegelec engineering unit, wholly owned by Alcatel Alsthom, was recently acquired by GEC Alsthom for FF10.6 billion ($1.77 billion). The acquisition boosts the company’s activities to around 11% of the global market for power generation and 14% in the transmission and distribution global market.
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