Harvia Debuts on Nasdaq Helsinki at EUR 5.00, IPO Oversubscribed

Harvia Plc, the Muurame-based Finnish sauna heater manufacturer, began trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange's pre-list today at EUR 5.00 per share. The IPO was oversubscribed, priced at the top of its range, and valued the company at approximately EUR 93.5 million immediately following the listing. Official list trading begins 26 March 2018. (Ongoing coverage, stock chart, and the full acquisitions timeline live in our Harvia News hub.)

IPO Mechanics

Harvia issued 9,014,436 new shares in the offering, corresponding to approximately 48.2% of the company's shares and votes immediately following the IPO. The sale of existing shares accounted for another 6.7%. Gross proceeds of roughly EUR 45 million will be used primarily to repay existing debt and to fund growth investments.

CapMan, the Nordic private equity firm that acquired Harvia in 2014, remains a significant shareholder with more than 20% of outstanding shares. Two CapMan-managed funds held a combined 69.5% of Harvia before the IPO. The number of shareholders after the listing jumped to roughly 2,000.

Harvia is the first pure-play sauna and spa company to list on a European exchange. There is no direct comparable on any major market.

Key IPO figures: Subscription price EUR 5.00 per share. Market cap at IPO approximately EUR 93.5 million. Gross proceeds approximately EUR 45 million. New shares issued: 9,014,436. Pre-list trading begins 22 March 2018; official list trading begins 26 March 2018. Ticker: HARVIA. Lead managers: Danske Bank and Handelsbanken.

Why It Matters

Harvia's listing is a first for the sauna industry. No other sauna-focused manufacturer has ever been publicly traded on a major European exchange, giving Harvia access to equity capital that competitors like TyloHelo (privately held), KLAFS (privately held by the Oswald family at the time), and smaller Estonian and Finnish heater makers cannot match.

The proceeds are earmarked for debt reduction, geographic expansion, and potential acquisitions. Harvia management has signaled that the fragmented European sauna market contains consolidation opportunities, and public capital gives Harvia the balance sheet to act on them.

Company Fundamentals

Harvia reported net sales of approximately EUR 64.2 million in 2017, with adjusted EBITDA margins above 20%. The company employs roughly 360 people across Finland, Austria, China, Hong Kong, and Estonia. Its product portfolio spans traditional electric heaters, wood-burning heaters, infrared cabins, and sauna controls, and it has a meaningful distribution footprint in North America through the Almost Heaven barrel sauna business it has moved to acquire.

Analysts expect Harvia's first post-IPO quarterly report to arrive in August 2018, covering the January-June 2018 period. Inderes and Danske Bank have initiated coverage. The real test will be whether Harvia can sustain its 20%-plus EBITDA margins while growing revenue at double digits in a category that has historically grown at GDP-plus rates.

Harvia just became the first and only publicly traded pure-play sauna company in the world. For industry watchers, that changes everything. Quarterly disclosures, analyst coverage, acquisition firepower, a clear stock benchmark for valuing private peers. The category now has a listed reference company, and it is based in Finland.