Reuters: Pepco will debut on the WSE

Pepco, a well-known discount sales network, has chosen the Warsaw Stock Exchange as its place of debut – informed Reuters agency. The London Stock Exchange was also at stake, but Pepco decided to choose the Polish market for the public offering, the agency claims, citing two sources similar to the case. Pepco itself declined to comment on the matter.

Pepco has over 1,000 stores in Poland, but it also owns the British discount chain Poundland. It also operates in the markets of Croatia, Estonia and Lithuania. In total, the company had 3,218 stores in 2020. Plans for this year include the opening of over 200 Pepco stores, over 50 Dealz stores and over 20 Poundland chains.

Pepco Group is valued at approximately $ 6 billion. According to SkyNews, the public offering is to be worth EUR 4.5 billion. If the IPO were successful, it would be the largest public offering on the WSE this year.

The debut plan is related to the situation on the financial markets, where, thanks to central banks, there is record demand from investors looking for investment opportunities in an environment of zero interest rates.

Pepco, which also operates in Europe under the Dealz brand, is part of the South African Steinhoff concern. In January, the company returned to the analysis of strategic options for Pepco, one of them was to conduct a public offering. Previously, similar information appeared in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the Bloomberg agency informed that Steinhoff was considering selling 25 percent. Pepco shares through the stock exchanges in London and Warsaw.

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