A Bolzoni Auramo paper clamp.

Italian stock market regulator Consob has approved Bolzoni SpA's initial public offering (IPO) of shares (Forkliftaction.com News #247).

The IPO comprises 8,532 million shares, priced from EUR3.0 to EUR3.6 (USD3.82 to 4.59) a share, generated by the sale of 4,278 million shares by existing shareholders and a 4,255 million share capital increase.

The IPO, open from May 22 to June 1, values the company at EUR63.8 million to EUR76.6 million (USD81.3 million to USD97.6 million). After the capital increase, Bolzoni will be valued at EUR76.7 million to EUR91.9 million (USD97.8 million to USD117.1 million).

About 25 per cent of the shares are on offer to retail investors and the rest to institutional investors.

Bolzoni has granted a "greenshoe" option to institutional investors that, if exercised, adds 938,536 shares to the IPO and brings the total IPO up to 37.09 per cent of the company's capital. A greenshoe option is an over-allotment that allows the sale of more shares than originally planned, normally done if demand is higher than expected.

The IPO is sponsored by Banca IMI and the listing is being handled by Banca IMI and Banca Cabato.

In 2005, Bolzoni's turnover was EUR96 million (USD122.4 million), a 12.6 per cent jump from EUR85.1 million (USD198.5 million) in 2004. It has six plants in Italy, the USA, Finland, Estonia, Spain and China and 10 sales subsidiaries.