Azelis IPO expected to be completed in next couple of weeks – CEO

LONDON (ICIS)–Azelis expects to complete its planned initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Brussels exchange within the next couple of weeks, according to the CEO of the Belgium-based chemicals distributor on Monday.

The firm is looking to raise €880m in a public flotation, to pay down debt and support its growth plans, in one of the largest flotations on the Belgian bourse in several years. The offering is expected to consist of primary offering of newly issued shares from a capital increase, as well as shares sold by existing investors.

Both sets of shares are to be sold in a private placement, Azelis said in a statement.

Azelis is the sixth-largest chemicals distributor in the world and has a long history of private-equity ownership. However, it has been mulling a move into the public domain for many years.

The firm had been examining a listing for 2017-19 when it was owned by Apax Partners, and again in 2018 when it was acquired by buy-out house EQT.

“It’s out there in the public that we have been in 2018 exploring whether we go public or continuing under private equity ownership,” Azelis CEO Hans-Joachim Muller told ICIS.

“Before we explored that we already did seek advice from external bodies to see whether our company is IPO ready. We are IPO ready. We have done a lot of things over the last couple of years to get us to that point,” he added.

The firm has appointed Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan as joint global coordinators and bookrunners, and Lazard is providing financial advice.

Following on the heels of BASF’s decision to temporarily pull its planned IPO for oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall, with a lag between economic recovery and investor appetite cited by the Germany-based producer, Muller declined to comment at this point on the share price the company is targeting.

“In the next couple of weeks, we will find out what the investor appetite is, and the price we are targeting should be fair,” he said.
Together with borrowings from new group credit facilities, proceeds from the offering will allow Azelis to pay down part of its €1.6bn outstanding debt, with the funding and capital markets access expected to help future acquisitions.

The company has been an active acquirer in the fragmented chemicals distribution space as it increased its focus on specialties and food ingredients, carrying out 21 purchases between January 2018 and June 2021.

(Update adds CEO comment)

(Thumbnail picture: The Euronext Brussels opening bell. Source: Shutterstock)