NBS Communications, the agency specialising in financial PR, investor relations and corporate communications, supported the initial public offering of Allegro.eu. This was the largest ever IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The company debuted on the WSE on Monday, 12 October, immediately becoming the most valuable company listed there.
NBS Communications was responsible for the planning, preparing and conducting an information campaign accompanying Allegro.eu’s equity offering in Poland. Communication activities in international markets were coordinated by the London-based agency FTI Communications, whose partner in Poland is NBS.
“This was an exceptional project, the largest out of the 130 public offerings we have worked on over the 30 years our agency has been in business and at the same time the largest IPO in the history of the Polish capital market. Together with FTI, we made sure that all significant information about Allegro and the specific stages of the IPO were delivered on time and through proper channels to domestic and international media, and through them also to investors. We were also tasked with assisting Allegro’s management board in communicating with employees. Reaching experienced retail investors in Poland was of particular importance for the transaction’s success. Looking at how subscriptions for Allegro’s shares turned out, we are certain that we did our job well,” said Piotr Wojtaszek, CEO of NBS Communications.
The size of the public offering of Allegro.eu was PLN 9.2 billion, and will reach PLN 10.6 billion if additional allocation options are fully exercised. The offering was addressed to domestic and international institutional investors as well as to retail investors in Poland. According to the WSE, Allegro.eu’s shares were purchased by more than 36 000 retail investors. Demand exceeded the available pool of shares by several times.
In the public offering, Allegro.eu shares were sold for PLN 43 per share, putting the company’s capitalisation based on the IPO price at PLN 44 billion and making it the most valuable company on the WSE. On the day of the IPO, 12 October, Allegro.eu’s share price rose to PLN 70, which is 63% above the IPO price, and the company’s market value reached nearly PLN 72 billion.
“I want to thank the Allegro and FTI teams as well as other advisers for their great work on this project. My team at NBS also deserves praise as it once again proved its professionalism and involvement in work for our customers,” added Piotr Wojtaszek.
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Allegro is Poland’s number one commerce platform and the most recognised e-commerce brand in the country. As of 30 June 2020, the Group’s e-commerce marketplace had approximately 12.3 million active buyers who connect with approximately 117,000 merchants, which resulted in an average of 32 million monthly transactions in the twelve months ended 30 June 2020. In that period, the Group’s e-commerce marketplace generated GMV of PLN 28.4 billion (EUR 6.2 billion).
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NBS Communications is one of Poland’s most experienced public relations agencies in Poland. Since 1990, we have been committed to helping our clients build and manage their business reputation, image and public relations. We specialise in supporting capital market transactions, investor relations and corporate PR. We have conducted over 130 campaigns designed to support public offers and debuts on the stock-exchange, as well as tens of campaigns supporting M&As. Our biggest IPO projects have included the public offerings of WSE, PZU, Tauron, Cyfrowy Polsat, PKN Orlen, Bank Pekao, Alior Bank or PlayWay.
