Hemnet Stock Sees 50% Value Gain After Public Debut

The market-leading Swedish property portal Hemnet saw its share price shoot up this week after its market debut on the Nasdaq Stockholm on Tuesday. After floating at a price of 115 Crowns (around $14), the stock hit highs of 172 Crowns. At the time of writing (Thursday 29th) the portal company's stock is currently trading at 157 Crowns.

Taking advantage of the so-called IPO window which has seen many tech companies go public over the last few months, General Atlantic-backed Hemnet announced on the 8th of April that it was to float on the local stock exchange. The offering was comprised of 17.9 ordinary shares and comprised around 17.7% of the company with General Atlantic and other institutional stakeholders General Atlantic and Sprint Capital able to sell shares in Hemnet to employees, local retail investors and vetted institutional overseas investors.

The stock's debut surge is similar to other tech businesses which have seen massive opening day gains. Airbnb saw debut day gains of some 112% and went from being priced at $68 the day before IPO to closing at $146 after its first day of trading back in December. The American tech brokerage firm Compass also saw big gains in the value of its shares after debuting on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month with trading prices popping as much as 22% in the first few minutes of trading.

These debut surges are leading many executives of top tech companies to believe that some IPOs are undervaluing tech companies and that money is being left on the table by going public via a traditional IPO. Asian property portal company PropertyGuru is said to be among those considering going public via a so-called SPAC which floats as a public company with no revenue with the sole purpose of merging with a large company to automatically take it public thus avoiding debut surges and the need for founders to embark on lengthy IPO-roadshows.