Canadian insurer Definity surges on debut after $1.6 bln IPO backed by Swiss Re
TORONTO, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Insurer Definity Financial Corp jumped as much as 36% on its stock market debut on Thursday after raising C$2.1 billion ($1.6 billion) in one of Canada's biggest IPOs.
Waterloo, Ontario-based Definity priced its IPO at C$22.00 per share, the top end of the marketing range. The shares opened at C$28.00 each, rose to the day's high of C$30.00 and were trading at C$27.81 at 14:20 EST.
Definity, previously known as Economical Mutual Insurance Co, is the parent company of Economical Insurance, Family Insurance Solutions Inc, Petline Insurance Company and Sonnet Insurance Co.
It is the seventh-largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada, with a 4.6% market share, according to its IPO prospectus.
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Swiss Re Investments Holding Coy Ltd agreed to purchase 20,691,179 and 11,450,000 common shares at the IPO price, valued at C$707 million, the company said in a statement.
Thursday's IPO also marks the first Canadian insurance-related IPO since 2019, according to data from Refinitiv.
Lead underwriters for the offering comprised BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets and Barclays. ($1 = 1.2636 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Maiya Keidan, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
