Online food ordering and delivery marketplace Delivery Hero is set to conduct an IPO sometime in mid-July, per a Reuters report. The Berlin-based company will reportedly announce its intent to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in mid-June. The IPO could value the company at as much as $4.5 billion—a significant jump from the $3.1 billion valuation it reached in 2015.
The news has come just after the company released its 1Q 2017 earnings data, although rumors of a possible IPO have circulated for months. Delivery Hero’s revenues nearly doubled on a yearly basis in the first quarter of 2017, jumping to €121 million from €63 million. Revenues in Europe grew by 44%, in the Middle East & North Africa by 92% and in Asia by 222%, with these increases being attributable in part to Delivery Hero’s acquisition of foodpanda in 2016, which is active in more than 20 countries.
Delivery Hero’s 2016 financial figures were just as positive, with a 79% YoY increase in revenues and a 65% increase in the number of orders over the same period.
Founded in 2011, the company has raised nearly $1.5 billion in equity funding, including a recent €387 million investment from Naspers (JSE: NPN), which gave the South African internet and entertainment group a minority stake. Other minority stakeholders include Insight Venture Partners, Kite Ventures and Point Nine Capital. But a public offering of Delivery Hero would be especially good news for Rocket Internet (FRA: RKET), which holds a 37.7% stake in the company. The German accelerator reported a net loss of €741.5 million for 2016, more than three times its loss for 2015.
Some key European competitors in the food delivery space have already gone public. London-based Just Eat (LON: JE) raised $600 million in its 2014 IPO at a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion, while Amsterdam’s Takeaway.com (AEX: TKWY) raised $368 million in 2016 at a valuation of roughly $1 billion. Additionally, Chicago-based GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) was valued at $2 billion with its 2014 public offering.GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) was valued at $2 billion with its 2014 public offering.
Liquidity in the meal kit space is also imminent, with IPOs in the works for both Blue Apron and Sun Basket.
[Related Read: It’s ‘scale up or die’ for European food deliverers]Read more of our coverage of Delivery Hero or check out it’s free profile.
Article by Kate Clark, PitchBook
