Visa's record IPO raises some $17.9 billion
V, priced the hotly anticipated offering of 406 million shares at $44 each, pegging total proceeds at about $17.86 billion. The pricing topped the previously estimated range of $37 to $42 a share. San Francisco-based Visa's shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange. "Despite the broad market malaise in 2008, especially in financials, the Visa deal was a triumph not only for the investors but for the underwriters who had to put together, in an artful way, the biggest IPO in U.S. history. I see a strong future for Visa," said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner at IPO Boutique. J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are lead underwriters for the IPO, which easily beat out the previous U.S. record held by AT&T Wireless. Back in 2000, AT&T Wireless priced at $11 billion. The strong demand for Visa's shares had been widely anticipated, as investors seize on a growth opportunity amid a harsh economic climate that has negatively affected the financial sector. J.P. Morgan was slated to offer nearly 29 million shares as Visa's largest selling shareholder, according to regulatory filings. After the shares priced above the expected range, that sale amounts to roughly $1.28 billion. Chart of MA
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