London: A trio of shareholders in Switzerland-based Galderma Group AG are spearheading a flurry of stock sales involving European companies that could raise more than US$4.13bil combined.
Private equity group EQT AB, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Auba Investment Pte are looking to sell an 8% stake in the Swiss skincare giant in an overnight placement, according to terms seen by Bloomberg.
They join British American Tobacco
Plc (BAT), which is offering a stake of as much as 2.3% in India’s ITC Ltd.
Elsewhere, Casa Grande de Cartagena – a vehicle for Ferrovial SE’s founding Del Pino family – is looking to sell around six million shares in the Spanish infrastructure group, while Uniqa Insurance Group AG is marketing a 1.5% holding in Austrian construction company Strabag SE, according to deal terms.
The transactions are set to make this week the biggest for sales of existing shares in Europe since March 17, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Dealmaking activity slowed to a crawl not long after, amid tariff-induced volatility and selling restrictions ahead of first-quarter earnings.
They come after US President Donald Trump dialled back threats to impose higher levies on imports from the European Union over the weekend, causing European stocks to rise.
Galderma’s backers stand to raise about 1.87 billion Swiss francs or about US$2.3bil in what would be their largest such placing since the company went public last year, the terms showed. The sellers increased the offering after attracting strong demand from investors, with Galderma planning to buy back a portion of the shares.
Meanwhile, Lucky Strike maker BAT is offering as many as 290 million ITC shares at a floor price of 400 rupees or about US$4.69 each, targeting proceeds of at least US$1.36bil.
Uniqa is expected to sell shares at 77.67 or about US$88.03 apiece, implying proceeds of around 139.8mil, while Ferrovial’s Del Pino family is on track to raise around 271.7mil, according to terms.
European exchanges have seen some US$30bil raised through sell-downs so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, with elevated share prices helping to fuel the barrage of deals. — Bloomberg
