Newly named Valemus, the arm includes Abigroup and Baulderstone. Shares will launch from $2.20 to $2.50 which prices the offer at 10.5 to 12 times 2010 earnings.
Bilfinger had tried to capitalise on its Australian operation via a trade sale. But Lend Lease, the most suitable potential buyer did not stump up enough money to interest the parent.
Now it expects to garner about $1.39bn which it will redirect to investments in the services sector in Europe.
Valemus has predicted revenue of $4.6bn this calendar year, down from $4.766bn last year. Net profit is expected to be $116m.
But commentators have suggested it is not a great time to take a company public, particularly as infrastructure work on new mining ventures might be threatened, by the Federal Government’s proposed resources super profits tax.
However Valemus’s chief executive Peter Brecht, reckons projections of a marked rise in the Australian population will significantly boost demand for infrastructure. “The backlog of work over the next 10 years is significant,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
