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FRANKFURT - Shares in Springer Nature are expected to sell for no less than 22.50 euros ($25.12) when the German academic publisher goes public this Friday, according to a bookrunner, putting the company on course for a valuation of almost 4.5 billion euros.
The bookrunner said books were oversubscribed multiple times at that level, the upper half of a target range of between 21 and 23.50 euros. The subscription period runs until Tuesday.
Springer Nature's first day of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange - Germany's first initial public offering (IPO) in months - will be watched closely by other companies planning listings in Europe, after gains by new offerings earlier this year from Swiss skincare firm Galderma and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.
Springer Nature's IPO is set to have a volume of up to 602 million euros, including 200 million euros in primary proceeds which would go towards reducing debt and optimising the financing structure of the company, which publishes science journal Nature.
($1 = 0.8957 euros)
(Reporting by Alexander Huebner, Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Friederike Heine)