AMSTERDAM: GrandVision BV, the Dutch company that operates 33 chains of optician stores around the world, raised 1.02 billion euros ($1.17 billion) in the second initial public offering this week on Amsterdam’s stock exchange.
Majority owner HAL Holding NV sold 51 million shares at 20 euros apiece — about 20 percent of the total, prior to the exercise of an over-allotment option — giving GrandVision a market value of 5 billion euros, the Curacao- and Monaco-based investment firm said in a statement. The shares rose slightly from the IPO price when trading commenced in Amsterdam.
