(Corrects spelling off Boohoo and Uniqlo, and adds ReutersInstrument Code in paragraph 15)
By Eric Auchard and Alexander Hübner
FRANKFURT, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Zalando
The Berlin-based company said it aimed to raise between 507million euros ($655.20 mln) and 633 million euros ($814.29 mln),including potential over-allotment shares.
The offering would represent about 11.3 percent of thecompany if all shares are placed and would be one of Germany'sbiggest technology stock flotations for years.
Zalando, which began in 2008 by selling shoes, hastransformed itself into a general fashion retailer, shipping1,500 brands to customers in 15 countries. It was inspired bythe U.S. shoe and clothing retailer Zappos.com, which is nowowned by Amazon.com.
The listing is part of a busy season for ecommerce IPOs,with Chinese giant Alibaba set to list as well asGerman venture-capital firm Rocket Internet, which helped launchZalando and remains one of its major stakeholders.
Zalando said it already had cornerstone investments of about127 million euros, including from Scottish Mortgage InvestmentTrust Plc.
The offer period is to start Thursday, with the first day oftrading planned for Oct. 1 on the regulated market of theFrankfurt Stock Exchange, the company said. The listing will beco-managed by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
The final price will be based on a book-building process foran offering that includes 24.48 million newly issued shares and3.67 million additional shares available in the case ofover-allotment.
All existing shareholders plan to remain fully invested,with the listing to be made up entirely of new, primary shares.
According to the company's prospectus, Swedish investmentfirm Kinnevik is Zalando's biggest shareholder andwill have a post-IPO stake of around 31.6 percent, followed by a14.8 percent stake held by the investment vehicle of Germany'sSamwer brothers, who are the founders of Rocket Internet.
The figures assume full exercise of the over-allotment.
Zalando confirmed the first-half results it reported lastmonth of sales rising by 29.5 percent to 1.047 billion euros,producing a small net profit, its first ever. In the prospectusit also reported first-half earnings before interest and taxesof 3.6 million euros, compared with a loss of 74.7 million eurosin the first half of 2013.
Zalando said its current warehouse and fulfillmentinfrastructure is designed to handle about twice the level ofsales generated in the 12 months ended in June. This will allowthe company to maintain current investment levels whilecontinuing to see revenue grow, it said.
"Going forward, we intend to focus on profitable growth. Weaim to sustain growth at above-market rates", the company said.
It said it plans to achieve these goals by taking marketshare, increasing its active base of buyers and capturing alarger chunk of its customers' fashion spending. It cited asrivals Amazon.com, online fashion specialists ASOS,Boohoo and Yoox, and retail apparel chainssuch as H&M, Zara and Uniqlo.
At a news conference last month, a Zalando board member saidthe company could eventually expand to more markets in EasternEurope from its core markets in Central and Western Europe.
(1 US dollar = 0.7774 euro) (Additional reporting by Jonathan Gould; Editing by LeslieAdler)