May 26 (Reuters) - Insurer Safepoint said on Tuesday it was targeting a valuation of up to $1.16 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, riding a wave of post-reform Florida insurance growth.
The Tampa, Florida-based company and some of its backers are seeking to raise up to $283.3 million by offering 16.7 million shares priced between $15 and $17 apiece.
The post-Memorial Day IPO market is off to a busy start, with a slew of issuers across sectors, from industrials to defense, launching their
roadshows on Tuesday ahead of SpaceX's hotly anticipated listing.
"The 16% YTD jump in IPO benchmark IPOX 100 underlines why investor demand for IPOs has been so strong. With 75% of portfolio holdings beating on earnings and sales, market-beating fundamentals are a big part of the story," IPOX CEO Josef Schuster told Reuters.
Florida, which has been a difficult region for U.S. property insurers due to high litigation and exposure to natural disasters, has seen a more receptive environment following a series of reforms in 2022.
The reforms have resulted in a significant drop in litigation claim frequency, drawing new entrants to the market.
Founded in 2013, Safepoint is a property and casualty insurer focused on delivering insurance in coastal markets such as Florida and Louisiana.
Safepoint operates in three segments - insurance services, risk-bearing entities and reciprocal exchanges - largely through a fee-based revenue model. Reciprocal exchanges are insurance operations that Safepoint manages for a fee, but does not legally own.
Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley are among the other bookrunning managers for the offering.
Safepoint will list on the NYSE under the symbol "SFPT."
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shinjini Ganguli)
