Volatile market conditions force smartcard maker Oberthur Tech to postpone French IPO
Oberthur Technologies, the world's second largest manufacturer of smartcards, has postponed its IPO on Paris Euronext market citing concerns over current market conditions.
Oberthur, which is owned by private equity group Advent International, had hoped to raise €500-€600m (£354m-£425m) pay debt and fund research into digital security.
Didier Lamouche, chief executive of Oberthur, said:
The decision taken with our majority shareholder Advent International is a natural one given the current state of the capital markets. Our business is delivering strong organic growth of both revenues and EBITDA and the momentum we see on all our activities confirms that we have made the right choices and positions us well for the future.
Notwithstanding the success of Japan Post's IPO, it's been a tough market for IPOs, last week music streaming service Deezer said market conditions had forced it to postpone its plans to float Paris, also citing market conditions. Many recent IPOs have seen shares perform badly in subsequent trading.
The floatation was expected to be one of the biggest on the European tech scene. The company, which is hoping to report sales this year increased from €960m to €1.1bn, has developed a bank card with a constantly changing CVV security number to fight internet payment fraud.
Advent bought 90 per cent of Oberthur in 2011 for €1.15bn. Company founder Jean-Pierre Savare and his family hold 10 per cent.