Key Takeaways
- • Verisure, the Swedish security group, has fallen 30% since its Stockholm IPO one year ago despite strong sales, according to Reuters Breakingviews.
- • Buyout group CVC Capital Partners is in the very early stages of assessing a bid to take Verisure private, per a person familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on October 21.
- • Hellman & Friedman, Verisure's largest shareholder with a stake of nearly 44% per LSEG data, floated the company less than a year ago.
- • Breakingviews argues a take-private would be a decent deal for buyers but would reinforce fears that public markets cannot absorb the asset types private equity firms need to list.
Summary
Security group Verisure has fallen 30% since its Stockholm flotation roughly one year ago, despite strong sales, according to Reuters Breakingviews. The share price weakness now sits alongside renewed interest from its former sponsors' peers in the buyout market. Amsterdam-listed CVC Capital Partners is in the very early stages of assessing a bid to take Verisure private, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on October 21. The source said there was no guarantee CVC would pursue a deal and that no offer had been made to Verisure.
The flotation was led by Hellman & Friedman, which remains Verisure's largest shareholder with a stake of nearly 44%, according to LSEG data. The listing came less than a year before the potential approach, leaving the stock trading well below its debut level.
Breakingviews columnist commentary frames the potential transaction as a decent deal in its own right. However, the commentary warns that a take-private following a short-lived listing would reinforce concerns that public equity markets struggle to digest the types of assets buyout firms need to bring to market. For institutional investors tracking private equity exit routes, the episode highlights the risk that IPOs of sponsor-backed companies may leave sponsors with limited public-market exit options and push them back toward private buyers.
The flotation was led by Hellman & Friedman, which remains Verisure's largest shareholder with a stake of nearly 44%, according to LSEG data. The listing came less than a year before the potential approach, leaving the stock trading well below its debut level.
Breakingviews columnist commentary frames the potential transaction as a decent deal in its own right. However, the commentary warns that a take-private following a short-lived listing would reinforce concerns that public equity markets struggle to digest the types of assets buyout firms need to bring to market. For institutional investors tracking private equity exit routes, the episode highlights the risk that IPOs of sponsor-backed companies may leave sponsors with limited public-market exit options and push them back toward private buyers.
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