Deliveroo to kick off London Listing in March

[LONDON] UK food-delivery startup Deliveroo is due to lay out plans for an initial public offering in London on March 8, Sky News reported, without elaborating on where it got the information.

The timetable remains subject to change, with the March 8 date not yet definitive, Sky reported, adding that Deliveroo declined to comment for its story. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg News.

After initially struggling at the start of lockdowns, Amazon backed Deliveroo got a boost as the year went on while customers avoided supermarkets and ordered takeout meals and groceries. Bloomberg News reported in September that the company planned to tap public markets.

Deliveroo's listing comes amid a surge in IPO activity in London, Europe's busiest venue this year. Deals include British bootmaker Dr Martens, which soared in its debut last month after a US$1.8 billion offering, while virtual greeting-card and gifting firm Moonpig Group listed two weeks ago.

Across Europe, beneficiaries of a pandemic-fueled online shopping boom are tapping public markets. Poland's InPost, which operates automated parcel lockers for deliveries, surged in its Amsterdam debut late January. Digital used-car dealer Auto1 Group raised 1.8 billion euros (S$2.88 billion) in Frankfurt this month.

Deliveroo said in January it had raised more than US$180 million in its latest funding round, valuing it at more than US$7 billion. That could put the IPO in the league of the biggest share sales in Europe this year.

Founded in 2013, Deliveroo has 140,000 restaurant partners and 110,000 delivery riders in the UK and overseas, while its app has 9.6 million downloads, according to its website. In December, the company said it had been profitable "at the operating level" for more than six months in 2020, while posting operating revenue of £771.8 million in 2019, up 62 per cent on the previous year.

BLOOMBERG