Richest Irish Man Pulls IPO in Blow to Bondholders, Bankers
- O'Brien surprises by shelving planned share sale in New York
- Digicel IPO would have been second-biggest in U.S. this year
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Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien’s surprise decision to pull Digicel Group Ltd.’s share sale may frustrate his growth ambitions, disappoint creditors and hurt the bankers planning to feast on fees from the second-biggest initial public offering in the U.S. this year.
Digicel’s bonds fell by as much as 3.8 percent, the biggest drop since last year, after O’Brien abandoned his plan to raise as much as $2 billion in an IPO scheduled to price on Wednesday in New York. The company said last month it would use about $1.3 billion euros of the proceeds from the sale to repay some of its its $6.5 billion debt, with the rest earmarked to finance expansion through acquisitions and capital spending.