Madison Air raises $2.2 billion in IPO

HVAC firm Madison Air Solutions this week raised over $2.2 billion ​in the biggest U.S. initial public offering this year.

What’s happening: Madison Air Solutions is the parent company of whole-home IAQ purveyor AprilAire; Broan-NuTone, which sells range hoods and home ventilation systems; zoning systems maker EWC Controls; and the self-explanatory Big Ass Fans, as well as other brands. 

• The company’s commercial business accounted for 66 percent of total sales last year, with the remainder coming from residential, Reuters reported Wednesday, suggesting that investors are attracted to the company’s data center cooling operations. 
• The firm sold 82.7 million shares at $27 a piece in the IPO, with shares beginning to trade on Thursday afternoon before rising 18 percent by market close, valuing the company at $15.5 billion. 

What they’re saying: “The IPO is the biggest by an industrial company in the US since United Parcel Service Inc. went public in a $5.5 billion listing in 1999,” Bloomberg wrote.

The big picture: Chicago-based entrepreneur Larry Gies formed Madison Industries in the 1990s as a vehicle to buy and invest in businesses, including in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors. 

• Gies formed subsidiary Madison Air, formerly known as Madison Indoor Air Quality, in 2017 to begin rolling up HVAC-focused companies. He will continue to control the business. 

Of note: Gies is a major donor to the University of Chicago Urbana-Champaign, where both the business school and football stadium are named after his family.