By Arno Schuetze
FRANKFURT,
March 2 (Reuters) - Springer Nature, the publisher of science magazines
Nature and Scientific American, is preparing to launch its stock market
listing next week, but may delay plans if the coronavirus continues to
roil markets, people close to the matter said.
Its
owners, buyout group BC Partners and publisher Holtzbrinck, plan to
send out a so-called intention to float on March 9, with a view of
listing the company in Frankfurt before Easter, the people said.
"But
they will monitor markets closely until the last minute and it would
not come as a surprise if they postpone", one of the people said.
Another
person said that so far, only companies which had their specific
markets impacted by the spread of coronavirus were prone to cancelling a
listing, but now a broader slide in stock markets is denting overall
investor appetite for IPOs.
"Right
now, Springer is all set for the launch. But if markets continue to
fall if may not be the right moment", the person said.
The deal is being organised by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley with the help of BNP Paribas, HSBC, Barclays and Jefferies.
BC
Partners, Holtzbrinck and the banks declined to comment or were not
immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze Editing
by Edward Taylor)
No comments:
Post a Comment