(Recasts with opening price and valuation; adds analyst comment
in paragraph 5)
May 4 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson's consumer
health spinoff Kenvue Inc rose 16% and fetched a
valuation of about $48 billion in its market debut on Thursday,
marking the biggest U.S. initial public offering since 2021.
Shares of the Listerine mouthwash maker debuted at $25.53
each, compared with their offer price of $22 apiece.
J&J sold 172.8 million shares of the business in an upsized
offering to raise $3.8 billion, and said it will continue to own
a stake of about 91% in Kenvue.
Kenvue's stellar debut comes as good news for hopefuls
waiting for market conditions to improve before moving ahead
with their listings, in an IPO market that has largely been
frozen over the past year due to stock-market volatility and
economic uncertainty.
"Investors are very valuation sensitive now, and Kenvue is
easier to pin a value on than, say, a tech unicorn. It has
mature brands ... consumers should continue to buy these brands
even in a recession," Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at
Renaissance Capital, said.
Kenvue marks the largest offering to launch since
electric-vehicle maker Rivian Automotive Inc listed its
shares on the Nasdaq in late 2021.
IPOs in the U.S., excluding SPACs, raised a record $154.07
billion in 2021, which fell to $8.63 billion last year as
markets reeled under macroeconomic uncertainty, data from
Dealogic showed.
U.S. IPOs, excluding listings for SPACs, are down about 22%
to a total of just $2.35 billion from the start of 2023 till May
3.
J&J shares fell marginally to $162 after Kenvue, whose
products have long been the face of the company, debuted.
Kenvue's listing comes a year after J&J's British rival GSK also completed the spinoff of its consumer health
business. Shares of the London-listed arm called Haleon have risen 9.4% from their closing price on debut day in July
2022.
(Reporting by Manya Saini and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli)
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