Czech Defence Firm CSG Sees 32% Surge in Amsterdam IPO Debut

Czech Defence Group's Successful IPO

By Charlie Conchie

Initial Public Offering Details

LONDON/PRAGUE, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Czechoslovak Group's shares rose as much as 32% in their Amsterdam debut on Friday, after a record listing for funds raised by a defence company, giving the Prague-based group an initial market capitalisation of 25 billion euros ($29.30 billion).

Market Reaction and Future Outlook

CSG sold 30 million new shares and up to 122 million existing shares, including an over-allotment option, in an initial public offering this week priced at 25 euros each, raising up to 3.8 billion euros.

Investor Demand and Coverage

The shares climbed as high as 33.00 euros in early trading and were quoted at 30.235 euros, up 20.9%, at 0812 GMT.

Impact on CSG's Financial Position

Michael Strnad, the 33-year-old owner of the company, will net just under 3 billion euros in the deal, including the over-allotment, while the rest of the proceeds will go to the company, CSG said.

The listing of CSG, whose key customers include Ukraine and which is one of the world's fastest‑growing defence companies, comes as investors pile money into the sector and European governments pledge to ramp up defence spending following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

European defence stocks have touched record highs this year and were pushed higher this week by U.S. threats to take control of Greenland. They pared some of those gains after President Donald Trump ruled out taking the territory by force.

ORDER BOOKS SWIFTLY COVERED

Other large European defence groups, such as Franco-German tankmaker KNDS, are also set to list this year.

Order books on the CSG offering were quickly covered on Tuesday, indicating demand exceeding the deal size, a bookrunner said. Funds managed by Artisan Partners, BlackRock and Al-Rayyan Holdings, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, have committed to cornerstone the deal with 300 million euros each.

Led by Strnad, whose father began trading old Soviet-era military equipment in the 1990s, CSG announced its intention to float last week and has opted to press ahead with a faster-than-standard process.  

In its prospectus, CSG said the IPO would raise its profile with international investors, boost brand recognition and credibility, and give it greater financial flexibility through wider access to capital.

($1 = 0.8532 euros)

(Reporting by Charlie Conchie in London, Jason Hovet in Prague, and Michal Aleksandrowicz in Gdansk. Editing by Anousha Sakoui, Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman)