DONG Energy IPO could be the biggest in Denmark’s history

Political majority wants state to retain majority shareholding until 2020

Sep 21, 2015

The Danish energy company DONG Energy is planning an IPO within the next 18 months and analysts assess that it could be valued at as much as 70 billion kroner, which would make it the biggest initial public offering in Denmark’s history, Bloomberg Business reports.

Jacob Pedersen, an analyst at Sydbank, told TV2 News it was difficult to find companies to compare with DONG in order to arrive at a valuation, but that his estimate was between 50 and 70 billion kroner.

The company’s shareholders agreed in February to develop an IPO roadmap, and on Friday the company announced how it intends to pursue a listing. The state is the main shareholder in DONG, and a broad political majority announced on Friday that it supported retaining a majority shareholding until at least 2020.

Last year about a fifth of DONG’s shares were sold to Goldman Sachs for 8 billion kroner, which continues to cause public outcry. The bank’s acquisition was based on a valuation of 31.5 billion kroner so it could stand to gain significantly from an IPO.

Denmark’s IPO record to date is the 1994 sale of about half of the telecom company TDC, which valued the company at 40 billion kroner.