Deliveroo shares rise as retail investors start trading stock

[LONDON] Deliveroo Holdings, which collapsed in its London debut last week after a £1.5 billion (S$2.7 billion) initial public offering, gained as much as 3.9 per cent as retail investors began to trade the company's shares.

Although the food-delivery startup listed publicly on the standard segment of the London Stock Exchange, trading remained conditional, meaning only institutional investors were allowed to buy and sell the stock. Until now, retail shareholders had been forced to sit on the sidelines as shares slumped 28 per cent since Deliveroo's March 31 debut.

The IPO was beset by public criticism from some of the UK's biggest institutional funds, because of governance issues related to its dual-class share structure as well as concerns about Deliveroo's gig-economy business model. Hundreds of the company's riders are expected to protest across the UK on Wednesday to lobby for better working conditions.

Deliveroo partnered with PrimaryBid, a platform that connects share sales to private investors, for its £50 million community offering, which was open to customers on its food-delivery app. That portion of the share sale was taken up by about 70,000 people.

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