TI Fluid Systems joins list of firms to shelve IPO

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By Noor Zainab Hussain

Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 13 (Reuters) - Auto parts maker TI Fluid Systems (IPO-TIFU.L) said on Thursday it had cancelled plans to list on the London stock exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) , the latest company to abandon an initial public offering (IPO) and blame volatile markets.

Although stock markets are riding high - normally a good sign for new issues - investors are wary of turbulence amid a faltering global economy and following Britain's shock vote to leave the European Union in June.

"The uncertainty is the challenge. Post Brexit, which is still not that long ago, investors are still sorting their investment strategies," said Ian Gorham, chief executive of fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L - news) .

Worldwide, money raised from IPOs fell by more than a third to $79.2 billion in the first nine months of this year, the lowest since 2009, Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) data shows.

TI Fluid, based in Oxford, southern England but incorporated in the United States, said last month it expected to raise about 600 million euros ($672 million) by listing in London.

The company, which designs and makes automotive fluid carrying and delivery systems, had already delayed its IPO once, shortly after the Brexit vote.

Its private equity owner, Bain Capital, could not immediately be reached for comment. Bain bought TI Fluid in 2015 for about $2.4 billion, including debt.

Two other companies in Europe - British gym operator Pure Gym and German real estate company OfficeFirst - cancelled IPO plans on Tuesday, citing unfavourable conditions.

Last week, British energy supplier First Utility also postponed plans to list shares.

Bookbuilding for UK waste management group Biffa's London IPO closed on Wednesday. There has been no announcement so far on the level of interest, which some bankers said suggested it might also be cancelled.

A source familiar with the matter said Biffa, its advisers and shareholders were still determined to get the IPO done.

Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) , Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) , JP Morgan and Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) were acting as joint bookrunners for TI Fluid's IPO. HSBC Bank was the lead manager and Lazard & Co Ltd the company's financial adviser.

($1 = 0.8928 euros) (Additional reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter)