MILAN (Reuters) -Italian microelectronics company Technoprobe plans to list on the Milan stock exchange, it said on Tuesday, aiming for a market value of up to 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion), three sources with knowledge of the matter added.
The company, which is the world’s second largest manufacturer of so-called probe cards used for testing non-memory chips, is 100% owned by the Crippa family and aims to float 20% of its share capital.
The group declined to comment on the valuation.
Technoprobe said it plans to list on Euronext Growth Milan, a market dedicated to small and medium enterprises, which has a more flexible admission process compared with the main market.
The group has chosen this market to speed up the listing process, two of the sources said, adding that it plans to move to the main market in 18-24 months after the listing.
The offering will consist of existing and new shares, Technoprobe said in a statement, adding that the proceeds from the capital increase would be used to expand internationally.
The company is expected to launch the offer by the end of the first quarter of 2022, the group added. Its debut on the Milan bourse could be as early as in the first half of February, one of the sources added.
Giuseppe Crippa started the business in 1995 in a small garage close to his home in Italy’s northern Lombardy region just after retiring from chipmaker STMicroelectronics, where he worked for most of his life.
In the past 25 years, Technoprobe has become a major partner of semiconductor manufacturers. It now employs around 2,200 people worldwide and reported revenues of 329.5 million euros in 2020, with a core profit of around 159 million euros.
Mediobanca and Intesa Sanpaolo will act as joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner on the initial public offering. ($1 = 0.8807 euros)
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro and Elisa Anzolin; editing by Giulia Segreti, Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman)
