October 26, 2021: -On Monday, Volvo Cars shrank its initial public offering, pricing it at the bottom of an announced range and valuing the Geely-owned business at just over $18 billion.
Cancellations have hit European, and U.S. IPO markets as inflation and global supply chain crunches have increased stock market volatility. At the same time, many more companies are reported to have pushed back plans rather than risk U-turns.
Volvo Cars, which had said its IPO would be priced within a range of 53 crowns to 68 heights per share, said it was now opting for 53 crowns.
Because of a semiconductor shortage, carmakers have been hurt by production disruptions, with several cutting production targets and shutting factories on concerns it will run well into 2022.
At the current price, Volvo Cars would be valued at just over $18 billion, well below the $23 billion it had expected at the top of the IPO pricing range.
Volvo Cars said it plans to increase around 20 billion Swedish crowns ($2.3 billion), down a fifth from its previous target.
CEO Hakan Samuelsson said he was “totally convinced” this would be enough, while the price should not be seen as unfavorable.
“We have been listening to the market humbly,” he told news agency TT.
Political tension amid Beijing and Stockholm persisted after Sweden banned Huawei from its 5G networks, and Swedish companies like Ericsson have lost business in China.
In 2010, Geely paid Ford $1.8 billion for Volvo Cars, which would not
exercise an over-allotment option; the amended offering would result in a free float of 16% to 17.9%.
Handelsbanken analyst Hampus Engellau said Volvo Cars had been careful to get secure all Swedish institutional investors.
“I would have seen a bigger share of the company listed to get a larger owner base and a liquid share, and now we’ll have a smaller share listed, which is somewhat unfortunate,” he said.
Volvo Cars said the trading on Nasdaq Stockholm was expected on October 29, a day later than previously announced.
