spacetoday.net: Inmarsat IPO a success

Posted: Mon, Jun 20, 2005, 6:33 AM ET (1033 GMT)
Satellite operator Inmarsat conducted an initial public offering (IPO) of stock on Friday, with share prices rising nearly 20 percent on the first day of trading. The company sold 150 million shares of stock, representing about 30 percent of the company, at 245 pence (US$4.48) per share. Shares rose 18% in the first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange, giving the company a valuation of neatly $2.4 billion at the end of the day. Inmarsat raised $669 million in the IPO, with at least half of that money going as a dividend to shareholders. Inmarsat, a former international nongovernmental organization created to provide satellite communications services to maritime users, had been acquired in late 2003 by private equity firms Apax and Permira.