ITI Holdings blames weak market on cancelling its IPO
The media and entertainment giant, ITI Holdings, decided to cancel its
initial public offering (IPO) late on Tuesday after subscription closed.
This was planned to be the biggest flotation on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
for the last two years. The owner of the number two commercial television
station, TVN, announced plans to relaunch the offer when markets pick up.
ITI Holdings, which also owns a leading internet portal, onet.pl, was forced
to make this decision due to a combination of poor market conditions, a high
offer price and concerns over ITI's complex ownership structure. "Our
prospectus is valid until the end of the first quarter of next year, so we
can easily react to changes on the market. If the situation improves, we can
go ahead with the IPO," said investor relations manager, Pawel Kosmala. ITI
set its price range at zl. 9.75 - zl. 14, valuing the company at $546
million to $795 million if all the shares were taken up. Analysts perceived
this estimate as overtly high compared with the $760 million market value of
Agora, the owner of best selling daily Gazeta Wyborcza. (Rzeczpospolita, p.
B3; Puls Biznesu; p. 4; Reuters) A.K.
