Norwegian conglomerate Orkla has raised around 1.7 billion Norwegian crowns ($302 million) from an initial public offering (IPO) of speciality chemicals firm Borregaard which was priced towards the bottom end of its target range.
Orkla said on Thursday the shares were sold at 21 crowns each, compared with its recent guidance of 21-22 crowns and original hopes of 20-25 crowns.
Europe's IPO market is still struggling to recover from the financial crisis of 2007-8, as investors are put off by volatile markets and the euro zone's sovereign debt problems.
Shares in Borregaard, which operates a refinery that produces chemicals from biomass, such as timber, straw, and other agricultural and forestry waste, nudged up to 21.3 crowns in their first day of trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
The IPO was "comfortably oversubscribed" and valued Borregaard at around 2.1 billion crowns, Orkla said.
Orkla has embarked on a drive to sell several of its disparate businesses to focus on its consumer brands such as biscuits and detergents.
Earlier this week it announced plans to merge its extruded aluminium unit Sapa in a joint venture with Norsk Hydro .
Orkla has owned Borregaard since 1986, and will own between 7 and 19 percent depending on whether an over-allotment option is exercised.
ABG Sundal Collier and UBS Investment Bank were the joint co-ordinators and joint bookrunners for the IPO, while DNB Markets, Handelsbanken Capital Markets and SEB Enskilda were the co-lead managers.
($1 = 5.6345 Norwegian crowns)
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