WARSAW, April 16 (Reuters) - European discount retailer
Pepco Group has decided to list its shares in Warsaw rather than
London, in what could become Poland's biggest initial public
offering (IPO) this year, two sources familiar with the matter
told Reuters.
Pepco, which has over 1,000 stores in Poland and owns
British discount retailer Poundland, is valued at around 5
billion euros ($6 billion), according to one of the people, plus
a third source with knowledge of the matter. They declined to be
named due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Pepco declined to comment.
Its plan to go public comes amid a flurry of European
listings, with companies raising a whopping $19.6 billion in IPO
proceeds in the first quarter as investors hunt opportunities in
a record low-interest rate environment.
Last month Pepco, which does not trade online, said it was
considering a public listing of its shares in either London or
Warsaw.
The company, which also trades as PEPCO and Dealz in Europe,
is part of South African conglomerate Steinhoff, which
is still battling the fallout of a 2017 accounting scandal.
Since 2019 Steinhoff and its creditors have been evaluating
a range of strategic options for Pepco Group, including a
potential public listing, private equity sale or trade sale.
Sky News reported earlier on Friday that Pepco Group had
decided to pursue a 4.5 billion euros ($5.4 billion) listing in
Warsaw.
The company had 3,218 stores as of December 2020. In 2021 it
plans to open over 200 more PEPCO stores, more than 50 Dealz
stores and more than 20 Poundland stores.
($1 = 0.8348 euros)
(Reporting by Anna Koper and Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by
Pravin Char)