Fix Price raises USD2 billion in London in biggest Russian retail IPO

(Alliance News) - Russia's largest cut-price retailer Fix Price said Friday it had raised USD2 ...

Alliance News 5 March, 2021 | 3:05PM
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(Alliance News) - Russia's largest cut-price retailer Fix Price said Friday it had raised USD2 billion in an initial public offering in London as Russian consumers embrace discounters amid a fall in living standards.

The company said in a statement it had priced its IPO of global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange at USD9.75 per GDR - the top end of the price range - implying a market capitalisation of USD8.3 billion.

The offer consists of 178.4 million GDRs, each representing one ordinary share in the company, equating to a total base offer size of approximately USD1.7 billion and representing about 21% of Fix Price's total issued share capital on admission.

On top of that, a further 26.8 million GDRs are being made available by certain selling shareholders, for an over-allotment option. If allocated in full, the number of publicly traded GDRs would increase to 205.1 million, representing about 24% of Fix Price's total issued share capital.

The IPO was the biggest for a Russian group since aluminium giant Rusal went public in 2010, raising USD2.2 billion in Hong Kong.

It was also the largest IPO in history for a Russian retailer on any stock exchange.

Fix Price has sought to capitalise on its growing popularity as Russians' purchasing power shrinks amid mounting economic troubles brought on by Western sanctions and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The company's Chief Executive Dmitry Kirsanov said the IPO represented a "landmark" in the history of not only his company but Russia's entire retail industry.

"We are delighted with the extremely strong interest from the global investor community, which resulted in a strong and diversified order book including a number of blue-chip names," he said in a statement.

Fix Price opened its doors in 2007 and currently operates more than 4,200 stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and elsewhere. 

The GDRs are expected to start trading in London and Moscow next week.

Last year Russian online retailer Ozon raised over USD1 billion in an IPO in the US.

source: AFP

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