The share price of Covestro rose by 10 percent soon after listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Oct. 6.
Shares were priced at 24 euros ($27.02) in the initial public offering of Covestro – the former Bayer MaterialScience – and the price climbed as high as 26.99 euros ($30.39) in its first day of trading.
Covestro said in a news release: “The listing was preceded by a bookbuilding process lasting for two weeks — in an increasingly deteriorating and volatile capital market environment.”
The company plans to use the gross proceeds of 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) from the IPO to repay its debt to Bayer group which will allow it to achieve the targeted investment-grade rating, it said.
“We are proud to now be a listed company,” said Covestro CEO Patrick Thomas. “It puts us in an even better position than before, enabling us to build on our strengths in the global competitive arena. We intend to share our business success with our investors and will therefore pay them a dividend from the start.”
A polycarbonate bull at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange demonstrated Covestro's optimism about rising share prices, and the trading floor was decorated with thousands of coloured PC beakers “to reflect Covestro's colourful new image”, the company said.
Covestro had sales of 11.7 billion euros in 2014 from polycarbonates, polyurethanes and other polymer products.
