South African conglomerate Steinhoff will list shares in its Pepco Group discount retailer business in Warsaw rather than London, in what could become Poland's biggest initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Earlier this month, Reuters cited sources saying that Pepco, which owns Poundland in the United Kingdom as well as the PEPCO and Dealz brands in Europe, was valued at around €5 billion ($6 billion).
Pepco trades from more than 3,200 stores across 16 countries and is led by Andy Bond, a former chief executive of Britain's Asda supermarket chain. In Poland, it trades from more than 1,000 stores.
IPO Listing
"Our proposed listing in Warsaw – home to our PEPCO brand since 2004 and the largest operating territory in the group, is a natural step," said Bond on Monday.
In March, Pepco had said it was considering a listing in either London or Warsaw.
Since 2019, Steinhoff and its creditors have been evaluating options for Pepco. It said it would sell at least 15% of Pepco's shares.
"We are strongly positioned to deliver significant long-term growth, given our market leading customer proposition in the most attractive sector of retail," said Bond.
Investment Plans
He also highlighted opportunities to expand across the whole of Europe and investment in infrastructure in recent years.
On Friday, Pepco Group announced plans to open its first PEPCO branded store in Spain this month and 10 more by September.
Pepco does not, however, trade online.
Pepco has appointed Richard Burrows, chairman of British American Tobacco, as its chair and will appoint four other non-executive directors.
It also gave a trading update.
For the six months to 31 March, revenue growth was 4.4%, reflecting the opening of 225 net new stores.
However, like-for-like revenue fell 2.1%, due to COVID-19 pandemic related store closures. [Pic:©Dmitriy Larichev/123RF.COM]
