Graff Diamonds $1bn IPO fails to sparkle yet
BANKERS to the $1bn IPO of the Mayfair-based jewellery group Graff Diamonds said yesterday that the share issue did not yet have sufficient demand for the deal to go ahead.
With just hours to go before the listing of the shares in Hong Kong, IPO bankers said the issue was just 50 per cent covered at the bottom of the price range.
Normally banks try to get an issue more than 100 per cent covered so that investors’ orders are not allocated in full, leaving some pent up demand for the new shares on the market.
There has been some concern about the revelation contained in the documents for the flotation that 44 per cent of the group’s revenues come from its top 20 customers.
Rothschild is advising Graff on the flotation and the bookrunners are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche, Credit Suisse and HSBC.
One banker on the deal said: “It’s coming together but we’re not there yet.”
Another person close to the situation said: “We are only two thirds of the way through the road-show and have some important meetings in the US today.”