By all accounts, Pirelli & Cie SpA is getting ready to launch an IPO (initial public offering) soon. Both Bloomberg LP and Reuters have reported it, and Pirelli has a press release on its investor relations website titled, "Definition of the indicative price range and structure of the Global Offering."
The company also foreshadowed the stock offering last April, when its board of directors and sole shareholder, Marco Polo International Italy SpA, announced they wanted "to accelerate the already announced process of stock market listing with the aim of being able to take advantage of market opportunities already beginning from the fourth quarter of 2017."
However, the Sept 14, 2017, press release is not legally available for publication in the U.S. "There are restrictions that regard the offering in the U.S., so we can’t publish there or do anything that might be seen as an encouragement to publish there," says a Pirelli spokesman. "It’s on our website, but access is restricted by region."
Controlling shareholder China National Chemical Corp. (ChemChina), which purchased controlling interest in Pirelli two years ago, had delisted the company from the Borsa Italiana SpA stock exchange in Milan. ChemChina reportedly owns 65% of Marco Polo.
Reuters reported that Pirelli said it will list in the first half of next month, and is "expected to set a listing date of Oct. 4."
Reuters also wrote Pirelli said its owners "would sell up to 40% of the company within a price range of 6.30 to 8.30 euros per share, giving it a valuation of between 6.3 billion euros ($7.5 billion) and 8.3 billion euros (nearly $10 billion)."
