Banks' books for the initial public offering of Talanx are already covered, three financial sources said a day after Germany's third-biggest insurer surprised investors by reviving flotation plans it had cancelled only last week. "It's one-time subscribed already," said a financial source familiar with the book-building process on Friday, the first day of bookbuilding, a term used to describe the process of finding potential buyers for new shares.
"It's going well," said a second person also familiar with the process. Successful IPO's typically have their books twice oversubscribed. Books are due to close on October 1 and the first day of trading is scheduled for October 2. Talanx declined to comment. On Thursday, Talanx revived plans for a stock market flotation, returning with less ambitious expectations just a week after renouncing a move to list when potential investors baulked at the price it wanted for its shares. Talanx has capped the funds it plans to raise in its IPO at 500 million euros, so stronger investor interest in the share will not lead to a bigger flotation.