Zabka, a Polish convenience store chain backed by CVC Capital Partners, is set to raise $1.6 billion after pricing its Warsaw IPO at the top of its proposed range, valuing the business at 21.5 billion zloty (around $5.5 billion)—a further sign of a European IPO recovery.
The IPO is set to be the largest in Warsaw in four years, since ecommerce marketplace Allegro’s record €2.6 billion offer in 2020.
PE-backed European IPOs are picking up this year with 13 offerings worth a combined €34.1 billion, according to PitchBook data.
Europe saw a dramatic drop in PE-backed IPOs in 2022 when there were just 18 IPOs worth a total of €10.5 billion. There were even fewer PE-backed IPOs in 2023, with just eight recorded; however, the total IPO value grew to €59.7 billion.
European IPO value grew in 2023, particularly thanks to the IPO of Softbank-backed semiconductor manufacturer Arm, which valued the company at €48.7 billion—the largest deal in five years.
CVC Capital and other investors are selling 300 million shares, equivalent to a 30% stake. It bought the chain in 2017 when the store had around 4,500 stores.
Today, Zabka—which translates to “little frog"—has more than doubled its footprint to around 10,500 stores. The company has also recently expanded into the Romanian market through the acquisition of Drim.
Featured image by Magdalena Wygralak/Getty Images
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