Fix Price announced IPO in London • The Bell • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive

Date

02/15/2021

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Редакция The Bell

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The Bell

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Fix Price announced IPO in London

The Russian chain of fixed price stores Fix Price has officially announced plans to conduct an IPO on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Moscow Exchange. During the first large initial public offering of the year in the West, the company may be valued at $6 billion, and it must raise $1 billion.

Fix Price, one of Russia's largest retailers, is preparing an IPO of global depository receipts (GDRs) on the London Stock Exchange, the company said in a press release. The timing of the secondary placement on the Moscow Exchange is not specified.

Shares of “selling shareholders” — Luncor Overseas SA and LF Group DMCC, controlled by the founders of the network Artem Khachatryan and Sergey Lomakin, respectively, as well as Samonico Holdings Ltd (an investment company of Marathon Group) and GLQ International Holdings Ltd (a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group) will enter the market ). A certain number of shares will be sold by top managers and minority shareholders. The founding shareholders of Fix Price will retain a significant stake in the company's capital after the IPO, follows from the message.

According to the Financial Times, Fix Price intends to raise at least $1 billion in an IPO that could take place as early as March. The company's valuation, according to sources familiar with the matter, could be more than $6 billion. This is not much less than the capitalization of Russia's second retailer, Magnit.

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Fix Price was founded in 2007 with the aim of creating the largest retailer in the low fixed price segment. With 4,200 stores, the chain's revenue reached 190 billion rubles ($2.6 billion) in 2020, with a double-digit EBITDA margin, making the company one of the most profitable retailers globally.

The company's IPO has been discussed for several years. In particular, Fix Price considered an IPO or private placement of shares in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, a minority stake in Fix Price was acquired by Goldman Sachs, after which the placement was discussed again.