Shares of the Ripon, Wisconsin-based Alliance opened at $24.5 apiece, above the issue price of $22.
Alliance and some of its existing shareholders sold 34.1 million shares in an initial public offering on Wednesday, at the top of its target range of $19 to $22 apiece.
The warm reception to the listing “underlines that investors are getting more confident in less growth focused, more capital structure private equity type deals, which thus far have been lagging,” Josef Schuster, CEO of financial services company IPOX, told Reuters.
Private equity firm BDT Capital Partners had acquired a majority stake in Alliance Laundry from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 2015.
“We expect this to pave the way for similar deals as U.S. IPO profile proliferates,” Schuster said.
U.S. IPO activity has picked up after a slowdown earlier this year, with companies moving to tap investor appetite as concerns over President Donald Trump’s trade policies ease.
Over 117 years old, Alliance makes commercial washing machines, dryers and ironers.
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