Reuters: Pepco will appear at WSE

Pepco, a popular discount sales network, has chosen the Warsaw Stock Exchange as its debut venue – Reuters reported. The London Stock Exchange was also at stake, but Pepco decided to choose the Polish market for the IPO, the agency claims, citing two similar sources of the case. Pepco itself declined to comment.

Pepco has more than 1,000 stores in Poland, but it also owns the British sale 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 more than 200 Pepco stores, over 50 Dealz stores and over 20 Poundland chains.

The Pepco Group is estimated to be worth $ 6 billion. According to SkyNews, the IPO is slated to be worth € 4.5 billion. If the IPO is successful, it will be the largest WSE IPO this year.

The starting plan is related to the situation in the financial markets, where, thanks to central banks, there is a record demand from investors seeking investment opportunities in a zero interest rate environment.

Pepco, which also operates in Europe under the Dealz brand, is part of Steinhoff’s South African concern. In January, the company returned to an analysis of Pepco’s strategic options, one of which was to conduct a public offering. Previously, similar information surfaced in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, Bloomberg reported that Steinhoff is considering selling 25 percent. Pepco shares are via stock exchanges in London and Warsaw.

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