By Pamela Barbaglia
LONDON (Reuters) -French investment firm Antin Infrastructure Partners is looking to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on Euronext Paris and has hired banks to work on the deal, the company said on Friday.
The flotation will involve a capital increase of about 350 million euros ($416 million) through the issuance of new shares as well as a limited sale of existing shares by the company's co-founders, Antin said.
The deal will help Antin, one of the world's leading infrastructure investment firms with approximately 20 billion euros in assets under management, to accelerate growth and diversify its investment portfolio while also strengthening its brand.
Speaking at a news conference, Antin's co-founder Alain Rauscher declined to say what market valuation the company expected to reach with the IPO.
Asked about whether Antin might be interested in buying an asset management firm, Rauscher said the company had no plans to do so.
"For now it is not on the agenda," he said.
Antin's IPO comes after rival private equity firm Bridgepoint went public in July in a deal that saw its value rise by more than a fifth on its London stock market debut.
Other buyout funds including L Catterton - the private equity firm backed by French billionaire Bernard Arnault and luxury goods empire Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy - are considering tapping public markets at a time when private equity buyouts have hit record volumes with activity rising 152% in the first six months of the year to $512 billion, representing 18% of global M&A volumes.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) are the joint global coordinators on the Antin deal while Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) are the joint bookrunners.
Rauscher and Mark Crosbie founded Antin Infrastructure Partners in 2007. The company has around 140 employees, including 75 investment professionals based in Paris, London and New York.
($1 = 0.8421 euros)