Last checked at 
(Adds stock market performance, quote)
By Abhinav Ramnarayan
LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Online greeting card retailer
Moonpig saw its shares rise by 25% within minutes of
pricing its London initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday,
underlining bullish investor appetite and setting the stage for
other e-commerce companies to follow.
Stock in the newly listed firm was trading at around 440
pence per share shortly after floating at 350 pence on Tuesday.
The listing price valued the company at around 1.2 billion
pounds ($1.64 billion).
The deal, the second largest UK listing this year after Dr.
Martens' debut last week, sees the company sell around 5.7
million new shares and existing shareholders sell 134.6 million
shares, setting the deal size at 491.2 million pounds.
It represents around 41% of Moonpig's issued share capital
on admission.
Like many other online retailers, Moonpig has seen its sales
soar during the pandemic.
"This is a business with high margin and cash flow and a 65%
market share in online cards in the UK at a time when COVID-19
has accelerated the trend of buying cards and gifts online,"
said a source familiar with the deal.
"It is also a high growth area - online cards and gifts are
an earlier stage in the cycle, with online cards only about
10-15% of the market so far compared to 25-30% in the fashion
sector," the source added.
Moonpig is among the first of several companies eyeing a
stock market listing in Europe this year.
In London, Deliveroo and Darktrace are expected to complete
deals this year, while in Europe, Germany's Auto1 is on track
for a listing.
A number of other firms such as WeTransfer in Amsterdam and
Trustly in Stockholm also have IPO aspirations, boosted by
increasing investor appetite for stocks showing strong potential
for growth in an uncertain global economic environment.
Citi and JPMorgan were joint global coordinators and joint
bookrunners on the Moonpig offering, along with HSBC, Jefferies
and Numis.
Moonpig's selling shareholders include a host of private
equity firms including GoldPoint Partners and Exponent, as well
as Hampshire County Council.
(Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan; additional reporting by
Stefano Rebaudo; editing by Sinead Cruise and Jason Neely)
