COPENHAGEN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Danish jewelry company Pandora, which is foremost known for its lucky charm bracelets, made a strong debut on the Copenhagen stock exchange on Tuesday.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the IPO brought in 1.83 billion U.S. dollars, which would be the fourth-largest IPO in Europe this year.
The IPO was valued at 210 Danish kroner in the morning but when the market closed, the stock was at 263 Danish kroner, which means a 25-percent rise in stock price.
According to the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten, Danish market analysts predict that Pandora will be able to get into the top-20 share list, or C20, at the Copenhagen stock exchange.
With the IPO, Pandora now has a market capitalization of around five billion U.S. dollars. It has in the past few years generated large profits for its owners, the Danish private equity fund Axcel, as well as the initial founders of the company, the family of Enevoldsen.
According to media reports, Axcel bought a 60-percent stake in Pandora from the original founders for 200 million U.S. dollars a few years ago.
Pandora was founded in Copenhagen in 1982 and has grown rapidly in the past years. According to the company’s annual report, it had a revenue of 481 million U.S. dollars last year, and earnings were at 185 million dollars.
The main production facilities of the company are based in Thailand, where it currently employs 3,300 people. The total labor force of the company amounts to 4,500 people and the company sells its products in 45 countries.
The company sells its jewelry for as much as 1,500 dollars per item through 260 branded stores as well as 10,000 other retail outlets.
