SCHIPHOL, The Netherlands—GrandVision announced on Jan. 26 an indicative price range of between €17.50 and €21.50 a share for its planned public offering (IPO), a move anticipated for some time, as VMail has reported. The final offer price will be determined on Feb. 5, with the company starting to trade on Euronext in Amsterdam the following day.

The price range would give GrandVision an equity value of between €4.4 billion and €5.4 billion, or more than 10 times the adjusted (EBITDA) earnings before amortization that the group generated in 2013.

GrandVision made EBITDA of €400 million on sales of €2.6 billion in 2013, but the company said yesterday that its sales growth accelerated to about 4.3 percent on a comparable store basis in 2014, with an increase of around 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

With the offering, founding shareholder HAL Optical Investments B.V., an indirect subsidiary of HAL Holding N.V., will offer of up to 51.0 million shares (20 percent) with an overallotment option of up to an additional 7.65 million shares (3 percent) in the IPO. HAL currently holds 98.57 percent of the GrandVision shares. As of Dec. 31, 2014, the book value of HAL’s ownership interest in GrandVision amounted to approximately € 800 million (unaudited). On this potential sale transaction no capital gain will be recognized in the income statement, as, in accordance with IFRS, the result will be recorded through shareholders’ equity.

In the offering, GrandVision will purchase 2.5 million Shares from HAL at the final price per offered share in order to hedge the price risk of grants made by GrandVision under its long-term incentive plans; HAL intends to remain a significant long-term shareholder in GrandVision.

The IPO will include a public offering to institutional and retail investors in the Netherlands and a private placement to certain institutional investors in various other jurisdictions

GrandVision is the world’s largest optical retailer, with the widest geographical reach and the biggest optical retail store network. The company serves customers on the highstreet, in commercial shopping centers and online. It operates a portfolio of 33 leading optical retail banners, including GrandVision, Vision Express and others, with over 5,600 stores in 43 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.

In its statement, GrandVision said it “expects that the offering will increase its business profile with customers, business partners and investors. It will further support the success of the Group’s international expansion, particularly in emerging markets, and further improve the ability to attract highly talented individuals. The offering will also provide additional financial flexibility and diversity through access to capital markets if and when needed. GrandVision believes that as the global leader in optical retail, it offers a unique platform for resilient growth and strong cash flow generation.”