Popular e-commerce platform, Allegro, has made history by raising about 9.2 billion zloty ($2.3 billion) in what has become Warsaw’s largest-ever listing. The feat was achieved after the company sold more shares than planned, following strong demand for technology-related stocks in Europe.
According to a statement from the company, the e-commerce platform was able to sell 213.5 million shares at 43 zloty each, the top end of the range put out. The group subsequently increased the total deal size by 14% in response to the demand from investors.
Selling more than 23.3 million new shares, the company raised over 1 billion zloty, with the remainder coming from Allegro’s private equity owners Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa Partners as the stock is scheduled to start trading on October 12.
Reports have it that the size of the offering could increase to $2.7 billion if the underwriters decide to exercise in full their option to sell more shares from the buyout firms, with 24% of the share capital available for trading. The initial public offering by Allegro remains the biggest on record for the Warsaw bourse, exceeding PZU SA’s 8.1 billion-zloty offering a decade ago.
The e-commerce company looks set to overtake computer-game maker, CD Projekt SA, as the biggest company in Warsaw with the IPO valuing Allegro at $11.2 billion. Allegro’s private-equity backers bought the business from South Africa’s Naspers Ltd. in 2016 for just over $3.25 billion.
According to estimates from Trigon, Allegro’s IPO would allow it to secure a 6.3% weighting in the WIG20 Index. On the other hand, the stock is expected to be included in the MSCI and FTSE-Russell benchmarks, which could trigger 1.15 billion zloty of demand for shares from passive funds. Allegro’s listing is also expected to boost the profile of a growing contingent of Polish tech stocks as well as stock offerings from the gaming sector.
Allegro is staking their bet on the continued expansion of the Polish online shopping industry, a market with more than 38 million people and one of the most resilient economies in the European Union. The unique selling points of Allegro that should put it ahead of the competition include lower fees, a loyalty program, a high number of local merchants, and market recognition.
The listing has demonstrated the widening gulf between tech stocks and old-economy firms in Europe’s IPO market. This claim is substantiated with Belgian fintech company Unifiedpost Group SA also pricing its offering at the top end of an initial range and selling more shares than initially expected.
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