CONTEXT
Following an introduction by a global investment fund, a founder-led growth business appointed Accellency two years ahead of its target IPO date to prepare the company and its management team.
Three dynamics shaped the positioning challenge:
1. From growth stage to public-market readiness – The move to listed-company status required the leadership team to adopt a public-market lens, institutionalising the narrative and growth strategy for a new investor base.
2. Differentiation versus US leader – The equity story had to establish a distinct investment case against larger US peers that set sector valuations, and appeal to US investors to build a global shareholder base that sustains the share price over the long term.
3. Sector classification – The business could credibly be positioned as an infrastructure asset or a technology asset, and each option implied a different investor base, peer set and valuation framework.
APPROACH
Accellency deployed its ESTEX® methodology across three workstreams, working closely with the founder and CEO, and the CFO:
– Equity story and positioning. Ahead of the IPO process, Accellency led workshops to develop and crystallise the equity story, the sector positioning and the differentiation versus US peers.
– KPIs, disclosure and reporting. Accellency defined the KPIs anchoring the equity story, set out what the company would and would not disclose to the market, and recommended a reorganisation of the business units and financial reporting, which management and shareholders endorsed.
– Equity story stream in the IPO process. Once the process launched with the IPO advisor and the lead banks, including their ECM teams and sector specialists, Accellency led the equity story stream across the entire IPO process: the management presentation, the analyst presentation, the deep dives and coordination with the PR agency.
RESULTS
The company listed successfully on Euronext Paris in the largest IPO in a decade and rapidly entered the SBF 120.
