Windshield Repair Group Belron Picks Banks for Europe IPO

Safelite and Autoglass owner Belron Group SCA has selected investment banks to lead a potential initial public offering that could be Europe’s largest in years, according to people familiar with the matter.

The world’s largest windshield repair company has lined up Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas SA, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley to arrange an offering as soon as next year, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential matters. Deliberations are ongoing and more banks may be added to the roster, they said.

Representatives for Belron, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Belron, run by former Anheuser-Busch InBev SA Chief Executive Officer Carlos Brito, favors Amsterdam as a listing venue and could seek a valuation of more than €30 billion ($34 billion), Bloomberg News reported last month.

Read More: Ex-Beer Baron Brings In $7.8 Billion a Year Fixing Windshields

The selection of banks is the latest step in a process that formally began when majority owner D’Ieteren Group announced a month ago that it was reviewing strategic options for Belron, including a potential listing. The Belgian firm’s stock rose as much as 5.1% on Thursday, the most in about a month.

In addition to Safelite in the US and Autoglass in the UK, Belron operates the Carglass brand in Europe. It carried out 17 million jobs last year and reported sales of €6.7 billion.

D’Ieteren owns just over half of the company, with a group of investors including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Hellman & Friedman, GIC Pte. and BlackRock Inc. holding the rest. All declined to comment.

A Belron IPO would be a shot in the arm for Europe’s capital markets, which have yet to recover from a slump in new listings that began after the coronavirus pandemic. European IPO volumes have been trailing those in Asia and the US , where a rush to fund the development of artificial intelligence has spurred a listings boom.