Environmental services and plastics operator One51 is understood to have cancelled a planned IPO due to pressure from shareholders.
The Dublin-headquartered company has adjourned a planned EGM for next week, at which it was expected the board would seek shareholder approval to proceed with an IPO and subsequent listings on the London and Dublin stock exchanges.
In a statement One51 said that “following consultation with certain shareholders, the company today announces that it has determined not to proceed with the business of the EGM at this time”.
It added the scheduled 21 April EGM has been adjourned indefinitely “to allow for further consultation with shareholders and consideration of alternative proposals, which include an IPO or a Listing at a future date”.
Like other investors, Dermot Desmond’s International Investment and Underwriting (IIU) would have had its share value diluted if the IPO went ahead.
IIU is the largest shareholder in One51 with a stake of around 23%.
It has been reported that Mr Desmond raised concerns with One51 over plans to transfer as much as 20% of the firm to Canadian investors prior to any flotation.
Mr Desmond’s IIU has been steadily increasing its holding in One51, and last year bought Pageant Holdings’ stake in the company for a reported €36m, bringing IIU’s shareholding to 20.80% at that point.
In March – at the same time One51 announced its annual results that showed revenue had risen 32.4% to €366m – the company announced its intention to seek shareholder approval for an IPO.
Other One51 shareholders include Kerry Co-operative with 4.7%, Larry Goodman’s Vevan owns 4.42%, while other co-operatives have smaller shareholdings.
One51 has around 1,600 employees across Ireland, the UK, Canada, the US and China.
