The credit card arm of General Electric, Synchrony Financial, brought in $2.87 billion in its initial public offering.
Synchrony priced 125m shares up for grabs at $23, the bottom pricing range (the top of the range was $26). At that price, Synchrony’s total valuation comes to $19 billion.
Although coming in somewhat below the $20 billion some analysts were calling for in advance of the IPO, Synchrony has still taken the top spot for an IPO on a U.S. exchange—toppling current throne occupant Ally Financial. Ally had raised $2.9 billion in April.
The proceeds from the offering will be used to repay debt to GE Capital, GE’s finance arm.
Synchrony enters the market apart from its former parent company’s vast influence at a difficult time. Other business in the same space have seen their stock prices deline this year – Ally, formerly General Motor’s financing arm, is down 4 percent, while Santander Consumer has lost about 20 percent.
The IPO leaves GE with about 85 percent of Synchrony. Remain shares will be sold off to investor in a tax free split next year.
Synchrony’s stint as the top IPO of 2014 will likely she short-lived, as Alibaba is expected to raise about $20bn.
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