Worldpay valued at 4.8 billion pounds in London listing
LONDON (Reuters) - British payments processor Worldpay Group Ltd has priced its listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) at 240 pence per share, valuing the business at 4.8 billion pounds.
Worldpay's private-equity owners Advent International and Bain Capital had narrowed the price range for the initial public offering (IPO) to between 235 pence and 250 pence from 225 pence to 260 pence, Reuters reported last week.
A bookrunner for the deal said earlier this month that Worldpay was seeking a valuation of between 4.5 billion pounds and 5.2 billion pounds.
The IPO is the biggest on London's main market this year. Worldpay earlier this year rejected an offer of up to 6.6 billion pounds, including debt, from French rival Ingenico Group SA , a source said at that time.
"We have already invested over 1 billion pounds in our technology, people and capabilities, helping us to become an advanced and sophisticated technology-led organisation with great potential," Chief Executive Philip Jansen said on Tuesday.
Worldpay said the IPO would raise total proceeds of about 2.16 billion pounds, with the company receiving around 948 million. Worldpay's private equity owners will hold around 49 percent of the company's shares.
Shares are due to start trading on the London Stock Exchange at 0700 GMT.
London has seen fewer firms go public this year, with 93 listings raising about 5.3 billion pounds by Sept. 30, roughly half the 11 billion pounds raised from 136 listings in the same period last year, according to stock exchange data.
British insurer Hastings Group's shares fell below the IPO price of 170 pence on the LSE on Monday.
Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley acted as joint global coordinators on the IPO.
(Reporting by Matt Scuffham, editing by Louise Heavens)
