Italy Expects to Raise $19 Billion in Enel IPO

Italy now expects to raise $19 billion from the sale of more than a third of Enel, the state electricity company, in the largest initial public stock offering ever.

Trading will begin Tuesday, and the price is likely to rise steeply. Funds tracking the benchmark Milan stock market indexes that haven’t received all the shares they’ve requested will have to buy more to ensure that their portfolios carry the same weighting of the shares in the indexes, analysts said. Enel is expected to make up 10% to 12% of the key MIB 30 index.

The state Treasury expects to sell 34.5% of Enel at 4.30 euros a share, the top of the expected range, valuing Europe’s No. 2 power company at $54.8 billion.