Ferrari priced the shares of its initial public offering (IPO) at $52 and raised $893 million. The share price of the IPO is at top end of expected range.
Ferrari is one of the most powerful brands in the world and 90 percent of the company is owned by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The IPO accounted for about 10 percent of FCA's share.
According to an Oct. 12 press release, FCA initially planned to offer Ferrari's shares in the price range of $48 and $52 per share. However, Ferrari's share fetched the top price of the expected price range.
In the beginning of 2016, FCA is planning to distribute its remaining 90 percent share to the company's shareholders.
Determining the value of Ferrari has been disputed by many analysts as well as investors. In May 2014, Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of FCA, said that Ferrari was worth about $13.5 billion. However, market experts and analysts valued Ferrari between $5 billion and $7 billion.
Marchionne has also commented that Ferrari should not be taken just as an automaker but as a luxury brand. Ferrari has an operating profit margin of 14 percent, which envies many carmakers; however, this margin is below in comparison to the majority of luxury brands.
The Ferrari IPO did not only get a lot of attention from hedge funds and mutual funds but also from eager individual investors. Ferrari has gained a lot of popularity in Formula One racing and the premium price of Ferrari cars are out with the purchasing capacity of a major chunk of car lovers. Many car enthusiasts who cannot purchase a Ferrari car may find pride in owning at least the shares of the company.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Martin Van Amerongen, a Detroit-based day trader is eager to buy around 2,500 Ferrari shares and is expecting the price to be in mid-$50s.
"Ferrari is a perfect cocktail of everything that's good for an IPO," says Van Amerongen. "It has a certain prestige. It's such a staple in the luxury-goods market, and no matter what kind of economy we're in there's always people buying luxury goods."
The shares of Ferrari will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) beginning Wednesday, Oct. 22 under the symbol "RACE."
