CEE Equity

On Wednesday night, the vibrant trading in the equity blocks market continued with several large deals from Turkey and the UK.

Nova Ljubljanska Banka, Slovenia's largest bank, has sold its entire 13.1% stake in Istrabenz, the conglomerate, ahead of NLB's long awaited reprivatisation, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

Shares in Digi Communications, the recently listed Romanian telecoms and media group, closed below its IPO price on Thursday, after it confirmed on Wednesday that its CEO Serghei Bulgac had been included in a bribery and money laundering investigation that had already involved two senior executives and a former CEO.

Slovenian Sovereign Holdings (SSH), which manages Slovenian state assets, has begun the privatisation of Nova Ljubljanska Banka, the country’s largest bank, having published an intention to float document on Monday morning.

Global Ports Holding, the Turkish company that owns 15 ports in the Mediterranean and further afield, has priced its London IPO just above the bottom of the range, achieving a £465m market capitalisation. The shares are trading up about 1.75%.

Digi Communications, the fast-growing Romanian telecoms and media group, has successfully completed a €190m IPO, the first from the country this year, despite being hit during the bookbuild by news that some of its senior executives were being investigated for bribery and money laundering, and the fact that voting rights remain controlled by the founder.

Telia, the Nordic telecoms group, came to market on Wednesday night with a large block trade in Turkcell, the Turkish firm in which it owned 38% directly and indirectly.

Global Ports Holding, the independent cruise port operator, has set the price range for its IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

Medicover, the Swedish diagnostic services provider, on Tuesday joined the growing number of European companies seeking to go public before the summer, announcing its intention to float on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Global Yatırım Holdings, the Turkish investment group, has hired Barclays, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to lead the $250m IPO of Global Ports Holding, the largest operator of cruise ports in the world, on the London Stock Exchange.

Theresa May stunned the UK on Tuesday by calling a snap general election, but equity capital markets remain calm and the next wave of IPOs is becoming more visible, with two more new deals announced this week.

A fresh IPO launch broke the quiet in the pre-Easter European equity capital market this week: and a very unusual one — the first Romanian flotation of the year. Digi Communications, a leading telecoms and media group, wants to float 25% of its equity in Bucharest.