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PRAGUE/MILAN, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Czech-based defence company Czechoslovak Group (CSG) plans to make its trading debut on the Euronext exchange in Amsterdam on Friday, two people familiar with the process said on Monday, in what is likely to become the largest global defence listing by funds raised.
CSG, one of the world's fastest-growing defence firms, said last week its initial public offering would consist of 750 million euros ($873.60 million) worth of new shares and a yet-to-be-determined number of existing shares. Sources, asking not to be named, had earlier told Reuters the IPO could raise more than 3 billion euros ($3.50 billion).
One of the people on Monday said books could open on Tuesday and close on Thursday.
CSG, which makes ammunition, armoured vehicles and artillery, declined to comment on the timeline.
A share offering and trading debut by the end of the week would reflect an accelerated pace, with most IPOs taking three to four weeks from the initial announcement.
Prices of Europe's defence stocks have hit record highs recently as investors pile into the sector following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and rising global unrest from Venezuela to Iran.
CSG's listing has the potential to be the largest Amsterdam IPO since InPost INPST.AS in 2021, which raised $3.9 billion, according to Dealogic data.
Chair and current sole owner Michael Strnad told Reuters earlier in January that CSG was considering listing 15% of its shares, though no decision had yet been made.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that the offering may value the firm at about 25 billion euros.
CSG said last week that it had received cornerstone commitments from funds under management with Artisan Partners and BlackRock, and Al-Rayyan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority, for an aggregate amount of 900 million euros, subject to completion of the IPO.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka and Elvira Polina, editing by Tomasz Janowski, Kirsten Donovan)
((jan.lopatka@thomsonreuters.com; +420 234 721 614; Reuters Messaging: jan.lopatka.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net/))