HSS Hire IPO: Company covers books ahead of London float

HSS Hire has found sufficient investors to cover the books on its initial public offering (IPO), City A.M. has reportedtoday. The HSS Hire IPO, scheduled for tomorrow, will be the first major London listing to test investor appetite for flotations this year.

According to City A.M., HSS had found enough investors last night to cover the books on its IPO, with the company’s bookrunners reportedly still gathering orders for the shares from the United States.

That support is expected to help the stock list above the 210p lower end of the expected price range, implying a market capitalisation of more than £320 million. Unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter told the newspaper that HSS would gain a range of long-only funds, making for a relatively stable price.

The report comes after news yesterday that HSS had seen strong interest from US and UK investors. Retail investors were also able to take part in the HSS IPO via the intermediaries offer which closed yesterday.

The HSS Hire share offer is the first major London IPO this year, following a record 2014 which saw a range of enterprises raise about $30 billion (£20 million) from equity sales, according to Bloomberg data.

Investors are also gearing up for the John Laing IPO expected later this month, which will see the infrastructure group return to the public market following eight years of private ownership. Last week, the company published an expected timetable for the share offer which will let retail investors take part via brokers.