Sodexo Spinoff Pluxee Debuts With €4 Billion Market Value (1)

French employee benefits unit Pluxee started trading in Paris with a market capitalization of about €4 billion ($4.3 billion) on Thursday after being spun off from food services provider Sodexo.

Pluxee shares traded at €29.26 at 09:47 CET. The reference price for the 147 million shares being distributed to Sodexo shareholders had been set at 26 euros a piece.

“The spinoff will make it possible to better value each entity,” said Gilles Guibout, a portfolio manager at Axa Investment Managers in Paris. Guibout argued there was now a long-term potential upside for both Sodexo, trading at a ...