The return of French SAAS company Planisware to Europe’s IPO market was a familiar affair with the deal closely following the playbook of German defence contractor Renk [ETR:R3NK], Europe’s most successful IPO of this year so far, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Like the German firm, Planisware brought back its IPO at a fixed price, built the book on an accelerated timetable and focused on a tight allocation strategy to create more demand for the stock once it began trading, the sources said.

The book, of around 120 lines, was multiple times oversubscribed, including multiple anchor-sized long-only orders, according to another source close to the deal. Total long-only demand was well in excess of transaction size and multiple times covered, with strong support from French and international institutions.

Allocations were significantly scaled back across the board, the source added; the top 10 and top 20 accounts took around 60% and 75%, respectively.

The approach appeared to have worked on the morning of April 18; as of 3pm Paris time the stock was trading around EUR 20 a share, a huge 25% above its IPO price. It spiked by over 30% at the open.

The French B2B software publisher backed by Ardian acted decisively to take advantage of improved market sentiment for the asset, driven by its 20% revenue growth in its FY23 results, a targeted EUR 30m+ EBITDA margin for the next three years and the strong performance of one its closest peers, Germany’s ATOSS Software‘s [ETR: AOF], sources said.

Planisware postponed its listing on the Euronext Paris due to challenging market conditions last October, triggered by heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Six months later, the company returned, launching its second attempt on Tuesday 16 April, with four cornerstone investors – the French state-controlled investment fund’s asset management unit CDC Tech Premium, French asset manager DNCA Finance alongside US asset managers Invesco and T.Rowe.

The four cornerstones agreed to take at least 30% of the offering, de-risking the trade significantly and allowing the syndicate to pursue a “well-balanced” investor allocation strategy across France, Europe and the US, the first source explained. 

Planisware’s multiple times oversubscribed book was helped by the four cornerstones, opening books at a fixed EUR 16 price, matching the previous valuation agreed to by investors last October, a second source said; the strategy was identical to Renk.

An investor said that Planisware’s recent results, made the valuation extremely compelling as opposed to last October, when he had questions about the price.

The situation in the Middle East, which stalled markets in October, has not improved but did not stall the IPO project given the confidence the syndicate had in the deal structure.

More confidence in the European IPO market also helped general deal sentiment after the successful pricing of Renk alongside Swiss skincare specialist Galderma [SWX:GALD], the first source said.

Triton-backed Renk listed this February after pulling its IPO in October, the same time as Planisware. It is now up over 96% from its February IPO price.

Ardian which has welcomed in a statement earlier today Planisware listing success explained it will “continue to support (the company) after the IPO and remains aligned with the future value creation of the company through its c. 5%. remaining stake.”

Ardian declined to give further comment beyond its statement. Planisware declined to comment on the book color.