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BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC and Societe Generale have completed the Eu1.08bn IPO of French auditing and certification services company Bureau Veritas by private equity house Wendel Investissement.
The IPO was the second largest on Euronext this year after the Eu1.3bn IPO of private equity investment vehicle Conversus Capital at the end of June, and the largest IPO from a French company this year.
Bureau Veritas was also the first big test of investor sentiment towards Western European IPOs since the credit crunch began to affect equity markets in August.
Although the Eu3.45bn spinoff of Spanish bank La Caixa's Criteria holding company a fortnight ago went well, it was...