PE

NBIM manages the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the world's largest SWF - $2 trillion, of which $1.4 trillion is invested in public equities, across more than 8000 companies globally. NBIM is also one of the world's most active investors in IPOs, with more than 100 IPO investments in 2024. Emil Framnes, the fund's Global Head of Equity Trading and Transition, has been with NBIM for almost 20 years and oversees all the fund's trading in equities, ensuring that the fund can efficiently deploy and adjust capital at massive scale. With an investment horizon measured in decades, NBIM approaches new listings and secondary offerings differently from many other market participants, making Emil's perspective particularly interesting for companies considering an IPO. Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management.

In this episode we sit down with Michael Shapiro, Apollo's co-head of Capital Markets and Syndicate, to unpack what it really takes to engineer a successful IPO in today’s market. Drawing on Apollo’s deep experience across public and private markets—including recent IPOs like Lottomatica in Italy, Sun Country in the US, and Ventia in Australia —Michael explains how the firm builds IPO readiness from the moment of investment, why purchase price matters more than ever, and how to turn complex businesses into compelling public stories. We dive into the practical playbook Apollo uses: early investor engagement, dry-run earnings reports, capital structure optimization, and building credibility long before the listing. Michael also challenges old assumptions about investor categories, advocating for a focus on fundamentals over labels like “long-only” or “hedge fund.” Throughout the conversation, he emphasizes the importance of predictability, simplicity, and investor alignment to maximize post-IPO performance. Whether you're a company preparing to go public, an investor evaluating IPOs, or simply fascinated by how public markets work, this episode offers a masterclass in IPO execution from one of the industry's top capital markets practitioners. Disclaimer: The discussion in this episode is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording has no contractual value and is intended for informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants in this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed. Any views expressed are those of the guests only, and not of Amundsen Investment Management or Apollo Global Management.

EQT, based in Sweden, is one of the world’s largest private equity firms, and an active IPO sponsor, particularly in Europe - where they have listed companies such as Autostore, Suse, Azelis over the last few years - as well as their own management company in 2019. Magnus Tornling is Global Head of Equity Capital Markets at EQT, and has been responsible for all their IPO processes. With Magnus, we discuss the timeline and considerations EQT applies when considering an IPO, management incentives and retention after the IPO and the importance of preparing a company’s sustainability strategy early ahead of the IPO. Magnus also shares his views on European listings versus US, and how to make an IPO a success for all parties involved. If you have feedback, or there are any topics you would like us to cover on the show, please reach out at contact@ipostories.com Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a sollicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.

KKR is one of the world’s largest private equity firms, and also one of the most active private equity sponsors of IPOs, with 3-4 IPOs per year globally. In Europe, they have listed 6 companies over the last 5 years: Trainline, Calisen, Hensoldt, SoftwareOne, Darktrace, and OVHCloud. Eric Han is a Principal within KKR’s Capital Markets team in New York, and has managed all these IPOs from KKR’s side. He shares with us how KKR approaches their IPOs globally, including IPO readiness, listing location, structuring, and post-IPO liquidity events. If you have feedback, or there are any topics you would like us to cover on the show, please reach out at contact@ipostories.com Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a sollicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.

Yann Leca was the CFO of OVHCloud, a cloud computing company, from 2019 to 2022 and led the company to its IPO in October 2021 - one of the largest and most succesful tech IPOs in Europe in 2021. OVHCloud, founded by Octava Klaba more than 20 years ago, is both founder-led and with two strong private equity backers, KKR and Towerbrook. Yann shares his experience defining the strategy of the company and preparing the company for a successful listing - as well as the early life of a newly listed company. If you have feedback, or there are any topics you would like us to cover on the show, please reach out at contact@ipostories.com Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a sollicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.

In this episode, we discuss the IPO of Exclusive Networks, a global distributor of cybersecurity solutions, with Jesper Trolle, its CEO since September 2020. Jesper was hired to join Exclusive in the middle of covid-19, and led the company to its successful IPO on Euronext Paris a year after joining.Exclusive Networks was owned by Permira’s private equity fund before the IPO, and we discuss the process of listing a tech company backed by a PE sponsor, the choice of listing location, the impact of being listed on your relationships with your teams, and the interaction with public market investors. If you have feedback, or there are any topics you would like us to cover on the show, please reach out at contact@ipostories.com Disclaimer: this discussion is not financial advice, nor an investment recommendation, nor a sollicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments, or an offer for financial services or any other transaction. The information contained in the recording have no contractual value and are destined for an informational purposes only. Amundsen Investment Management and the participants on this podcast may have holdings in the companies being discussed.