Russian IT firm Softline valued at around $1.5 billion in London IPO

MOSCOW - Russian IT company Softline set its final offer price at $7.50 per global depositary receipt (GDR) for its initial public offering (IPO), the lower end of its target range, implying a valuation of around $1.5 billion, the company said on Wednesday.

Softline said it had raised $400 million in the offer of 53,333,334 GDRs representing newly issued ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange, with a secondary listing due on the Moscow Exchange.

Softline, headquartered in London and operating in more than 50 countries, said up to 8,000,000 GDRs were being made available by certain existing shareholders as an over-allotment option.