(Alliance News) - Food delivery firm Deliveroo has selected London for its eagerly anticipated IPO, the Daily Mail reported late Tuesday.
According to the newspaper, Deliveroo's Chief Executive Will Shu also had been considering a listing in New York.
Shu believed a New York float could have given the UK firm a chunkier valuation, but financial advisors said Deliveroo's customer base is largely in Europe not the US, the Daily Mail noted.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-9165435/Its-London-Deliveroo-set-UK-listing-Big-win-Square-Mile.html
Simon Wolfson, chief executive of UK retailer Next PLC, was appointed as a Deliveroo non-executive, starting Monday. Wolfson is among the longest serving heads of a FTSE 100 company.
Deliveroo, boosted by demand during the coronavirus pandemic, said on Sunday it was targeting a stock market listing after a fundraising round valued the company at more than USD7.0 billion.
Deliveroo said in a statement that it had raised more than USD180 million from its existing investors, "valuing the business at over USD7 billion".
London-based Deliveroo works with 140,000 restaurants in 800 cities to deliver meals to customers' homes, and has seen demand soar in line with other home-delivery companies as much of the world has been subject to lockdowns to tackle the pandemic.
The company has also landed a raft of partnerships with grocery retailers, such as Aldi, Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, J Sainsbury PLC and Waitrose.
In August of last year, Amazon.com Inc's investment in Deliveroo was given full clearance, after UK regulators said it will not "substantially lessen competition".
Amazon was back in May 2019 named as the largest investor in a USD575 million fundraise. The US online retailing giant held a 16% stake in Deliveroo following the investment.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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