Ibercaja continues with its IPO 'on pause' due to market volatility

MADRID, 31 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Ibercaja Banco continues without seeing its IPO clearly due to the volatility that still persists in the markets, and keeps the jump to the parquet 'on pause', waiting for the situation to stabilize, according to financial sources reported to Europa Press .

The entity maintains its plan to try to exit in the June window, although the volatility continues in the markets, as reflected in the indices that measure this magnitude. Specifically, the VStoxx --linked to the Eurostoxx 500-- is trading around 25 points, while the Vix --linked to the S

It should be noted that experts advise against performing such a trade at a level between 25 and 30 points, while they would recommend it at a level of 20 to 25 points.

At the end of April, the entity was waiting for the volatility indices to drop below 25 points to reactivate the process and formally contact investors.

The digital media El Español-Invertia points to July 10 as a key date, when the term that Ibercaja has to be able to use the results of the first quarter of the year to prepare the IPO prospectus would end. If it does not occur at that time, the bank would lower the option of trying the operation in September.

Ibercaja announced on January 20 its intention to go public through an initial public offering for the sale of ordinary shares to qualified investors through a document that would no longer be in force and that the entity would have to redraw.

At the time, the proposed offer consisted of a secondary sale of existing shares by the bank's majority shareholder, Fundación Ibercaja, which owns 88% of the bank's shares.

Through this offer, the banking foundation intended to reduce its stake in the bank below 50% to comply with the Banking Foundations Law, although it would seek to retain control of the bank, maintaining a 46.09% stake.

However, at the beginning of February, Ibercaja decided to delay the operation due to the high volatility registered in the markets as a result of geopolitical tensions, a situation that worsened after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Thus, in March, the bank was considering the possibility of going public in April, although market conditions continued without improvement, so now its central scenario is going out in June.

The entity was already prepared to go on the market in March 2020, but the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic ruined the plans for its debut on the parquet; some preparations that the bank had started at the end of 2018.

This is one of the two procedures contemplated in the Spanish regulations that oblige the old savings banks to reduce the shares of the banking foundations in the entities below 50%.

Initially, the deadline to opt for this route was until 2020, although the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic led the Government to extend the period for another two years, until 2022, so this exercise would be the last that Ibercaja has to fulfill this mandate, in case the Executive does not give more time to carry out the IPO.

However, there is another possibility that the entity has and that is to set up a reserve fund in order to guarantee the financing of the investee credit entity in situations of difficulty. To create this fund, the Ibercaja Foundation would have a period of two more years, until the end of 2024.