First Data makes modest debut in year’s biggest IPO

First Data vice chairman Joe Plumeri (left) and chairman and CEO Frank Bisignano speak after the company began trading following its initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.Reuters/New YorkShares in First Data Corp rose 2.6% in their debut yesterday, valuing the payment processor at $14.42bn in the largest initial public offering this year. First Data, controlled by private equity firm KKR & Co, raised $2.56bn by selling 160mn shares at $16 each per share, below the indicated range of $18 to $20. The IPOs of several companies have been priced below their expected ranges since August due to market volatility. The company, which was first spun off in an IPO by American Express in the early nineties, was taken private in 2007 by KKR for about $29bn – one of the biggest leveraged buyouts before the financial crisis. “Most IPOs have had to discount heavily to make them attractive. It’s interesting that First Data cut its price and not the offering size,” said Francis Gaskins, president of research firm IPO Desktop. Atlanta-based First Data, which hived off money-transfer giant Western Union in 2006, plans to use proceeds from the IPO to reduce its debt of about $21bn.