June 3 (Reuters) - Applied Aerospace & Defense achieved a valuation of $3.54 billion after its shares opened 3.8% above the offer ‌price in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Wednesday, ‌setting the tone for a busy week of initial public offerings.

The stock opened ​at $20.75 apiece, compared with the offer price of $20. The Huntsville, Alabama-based space and defense hardware provider raised $650 million in the IPO by selling 32.5 million shares within the marketed range of $18 to $21 apiece.

Seven companies spanning ‌AI infrastructure to software ⁠are slated to go public in New York this week, tying the record for the busiest week ⁠since 2021, according to Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.

Defense tech has also been a recurring theme in the IPO ​market since ​April as issuers look to capitalize ​on structural tailwind stemming from ‌the Middle East conflict.

Middle-market-focused buyout firm Greenbriar Equity Group combined portfolio companies Applied Aerospace and PCX Aerosystems last year to form Applied Aerospace & Defense.

Applied, whose legacy businesses have been operating for more than a century, makes complex hardware such as solid rocket motor cases, ‌flight control surfaces, fuselage assemblies, and ​engine shafts, for aerospace and defense markets.

The ​company has expanded through ​more than a dozen acquisitions since 2021. Business from ‌Applied's top three customers accounted ​for roughly 59% ​of its revenue last year.

It has long-standing supplier relationships with blue-chip firms SpaceX, Boeing, Northrop, RTX, Lockheed and Blue Origin.

The firm ​supplies vital components ‌such as nose cones, fairings, protective covers, and payload adapters ​for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)