CEE Equity

Wirtualna Polska, a Polish internet portal company, on Tuesday started bookbuilding for its Z323m (€80m) Warsaw initial public offering.

Idea Bank, the Polish challenger bank, on Wednesday set the price of its Warsaw IPO at Z24, the bottom of the range, and reduced its size, because investor demand failed to meet expectations.

Wirtualna Polska, the Polish internet portal company, is in the investor education phase of its initial public offering, which could value the company at about €160m.

Idea Bank, the Polish challenger bank, is expected to reduce today the size of its Warsaw initial public offering because investor demand for the deal failed to meet expectations.

That some international investors still have appetite for Russian risk was made clear again on Monday night, when Lenta, the hypermarket group, raised $225m of new capital to finance expansion.

Two equity block trades are in the market tonight, both in supermarket groups: Russia’s Lenta and France’s Carrefour.

The starting gun has been fired for the long-awaited quasi-IPO of Finansbank. The National Bank of Greece, which owns almost all the Turkish bank, will sell some of its shares, though the $1bn deal will consist mainly of new capital.

Wizz Air, the Hungarian budget airline, traded up on Wednesday as it entered the London Stock Exchange following its second, and this time successful, IPO attempt.

Wizz Air, the Hungarian budget airline, has received enough interest from investors to complete its €300m London listing, and will close the bookbuild a few hours early, at 10pm on Monday night instead of noon on Tuesday.

Tuesday brought three block trades in Europe’s equity capital market. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development sold its whole 5.1% stake in PKP Cargo, a Polish rail freight operator, for Z197m (€47m) via Goldman Sachs and Wood & Co.

Three block trades are in the market, as secondary placement activity remains busy. The most exotic of the trades is for Sergey Galitsky, founder of the Russian retailer Magnit, who is selling up to 1m shares in the business – apparently to finance improvements to the stadium at his football team, FC Krasnodar.

Wizz Air, the Hungarian budget airline, has announced its intention to float in London, seven months after its previous, failed IPO.