IPO watch: French cloud computing company OVHcloud to list in Paris

Paris (France): Palais Brongniart, Paris former Stock Exchange, with French tricolor flag. (Photo by: Apaydin A/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Initial trading on the Paris stock market is expected to start on 15 October, with a formal stock market debut due later on 19 October. Photo: Apaydin A/Andia/Universal Images Group via Getty (Andia via Getty Images)

OVHcloud, a French cloud computing company, is set to make its market debut in Paris next week, continuing a recent trend of initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe.

The firm, which offers virtual private server (VPS), dedicated servers and other web services, set the price range for its listing at between €18.50 (£15.70, $21.30) and €20 per share, meaning it should raise around €350m.

Initial trading on the Paris stock market is expected to start on 15 October, with a formal stock market debut due later on 19 October, as it aims to capitalise on the surge in demand for digital communications.

OVHcloud was established in 1999 by the Klaba family, and is now the largest European-based cloud services provider.

It has been touted by French politicians as a potential alternative to US cloud services firms, including the likes of Google (GOOG) Cloud, Amazon (AMZN) Web Services, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Azure, which are currently dominating the market.

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The French firm recently received a sum of €58m from its insurance companies after a fire at one of its data centres in Strasbourg earlier this year, and also sealed deals with Europe’s leading telecoms operator Deutsche Telekom (DTE.DE) and French IT services companies Atos (ATO.PA) and Capgemini (CAP.PA).

Its debut will extend a strong run of listings in France, after a dismal two years, with French cybersecurity company Exclusive Networks looking to list in the country, as well as investment firm Antin Infrastructure Partners, and healthcare property firm Icade Sante.

However, France’s IPO market was dealt a blow earlier this month after Icade Sante delayed its debut due to volatile market conditions.

The number of European listings hit their highest level in 14 years in the first half of the year, and the number of stock market listings across the globe this year has surpassed all initial public offering activity throughout 2020.

According to EY, global volumes have risen 87%, and proceeds have increased by 99% year-on year.

Read more: Tech and pharma lead global IPO boom

The data showed that the most recent quarter of 2021 was the most active third quarter by deal number and proceeds in the last 20 years.

On a regional level, Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) outperformed the Americas and Asia-Pacific (APAC), with a surge of almost 500 IPOs year-to-date. This has raised $73.7bn (£54.1bn), an increase of 263% compared to last year, and 313% higher on the year prior to that.

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