The large institutional investors placed orders to buy more than the 66 million shares made available to them under the initial public offering (IPO) of major Romanian electricity producer Hidroelectrica (H2O), while the small investors subscribed for 98% of the 11.7 million shares they were allotted, according to Ziarul Financiar.

The IPO was thus nearly fully subscribed in just three days, and the orders placed until the subscription period expires will only contribute to a lower pro-rata allocation of shares for each investor.

US investors not active on the Romanian market so far showed up, the daily announced.

In the retail segment, 21,800 orders were placed in three days – meaning an average order of nearly RON 60,000 (EUR 12,000).

The interest among the large investors remains high and new orders are still being processed, sources in the capital market told Ziarul Financiar.

NN, which manages private pension funds but also open-end funds in Romania, reportedly placed an order worth EUR 300 million at the maximum price allowed – which is an equivalent of 13.4 million shares.

According to Profit.ro, Allianz, Generali and Aegon – managers of pension funds active in Romania form the group of anchor investors who announced from the beginning orders worth USD 500 million or the equivalent of some 20 million shares.

"The company is large, meets ESG criteria, valuation is in the market, enters large stock indices after listing," the sources explained the high interest.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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