The first German IPO of the year has finally arrived. Pfisterer, the Baden-Württemberg based electric cable connection technology provider for energy infrastructure, has closed its subscription period, with the issue price set at 27 euros – at the top end of the recently reported range. Shortly before the pricing announcement, the family firm’s price band had been narrowed from an initial 25–29 to 26–27 euros.

First day of trading is Wednesday. The offering was led by Berenberg and Commerzbank/Oddo BHF.

The greenshoe option was also exercised, bringing total proceeds to 188 million euros. Roughly half of that amount goes to the company itself, and half to the great-grandson of the founder, Karl-Heinz Pfisterer. The initial market capitalisation will stand just above 500 million euros. If all 6.97 million shares are placed, up to 38.5 percent of the stock will be in free float after the IPO.

The Greek fintech firm Qualco also recently successfully positioned its IPO in Athens at the upper end of the 5.04 to 5.46 euros price range, targeting a volume of up to 113 million euros. The final pricing, which was confirmed after the books closed, reflected strong demand, with the offering being heavily oversubscribed in both instances.

However, the two listings took different approaches: Pfisterer secured demand even before announcing its IPO, whereas Qualco only gauged investor appetite during the bookbuilding phase. UBS was lead manager on Qualco’s deal. That both companies’ shares have found strong demand, and achieved favourable pricing, can be seen as an encouraging sign for the IPO market.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Swedish ad-tech firm Verve Group SE began trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Regulated Market, following its uplisting. Its share price briefly rose 4.4 percent to 3.96 euros, implying a market cap of 740 million euros – putting it in contention for an SDax slot.