Food-delivery startup Deliveroo Holdings Plc has started taking investor orders in a share sale of as much as GBP1.77 billion ($3.29 billion), marking the largest initial public offering in the UK since September
See: Deliveroo launches London IPO after business surges in 2020
Deliveroo is selling shares at GBP3.90 to GBP4.60 apiece, according to a statement Monday, valuing the company at GBP7.6 billion to GBP8.8 billion.
The offering is the biggest float on the London Stock Exchange since THG Plc’s GBP1.88 billion offering in September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The company plans to sell as many as 384.6 million shares, an amount that could rise by as much as 10% if there’s enough demand. Besides the GBP1 billion of new shares the company aims to sell, existing shareholders will also sell stock in the IPO, the company said. The company plans to invest its proceeds to fuel growth.
Deliveroo is coming to the market at a time coronavirus restrictions have caused soaring demand for food delivery. Gross transaction value -- the total value of purchases on its platform -- rose 121% in January and February versus the same period last year, the company said Monday, after a 64% increase in 2020.
“Bringing the food category online represents an enormous market opportunity,” it said, adding that less than one of 21 meals a week including breakfast lunch and dinner takes place online now.
Its shareholders include Amazon.com Inc., which holds a 16% stake, venture capital firms DST Global and Index Ventures, who own about 10% each, and US mutual-fund company T. Rowe Price Group Inc. with a 8.1% interest.
Deliveroo is listing with two classes of shares, which will give Chief Executive Officer Will Shu outsized voting rights for three years. The offering comes after a government-backed report this month made a slew of recommendations to reform UK listing rules, including allowing such governance structures on the premium segment of the LSE, but it could be months before these are implemented.
The proposals are part of London’s attempts to retain its clout as a major financial centre in a post-Brexit world and attract fast-growth technology firms to its stock exchange. About 4.8 billion pounds has been raised this year in the City through IPOs, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are joint global coordinators on the offering, while Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Jefferies and Numis Securities Ltd. are joint bookrunners.
