Russian retailer O’Key said today (2 November) that it had raised US$420m in its initial public share offer.
The company and existing shareholders sold 31.1m global depository receipts today for US$11 a share.
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O’Key will receive net proceeds of $161m, of which it plans to use up to $149m to finance further expansion of its hypermarket and supermarket format in Russia over the next several years. The remainder will be used for general corporate purposes.
It plans to “temporarily” use a portion of the net proceeds to reduce its outstanding short-term debt.
The sale values the company at US$2.95bn before the start of trading. However, the stock fell to US$10.88 in conditional trading at 12:40 today, with unconditional trading set to begin in London on 5 November.
“It has been a pleasure to receive such a warm welcome from the financial community in so many geographies, particularly at a time of uncertainty in the global financial markets,” said O’Key CEO Patrick Longuet. “We are confident that we have the skills as well as the capacity to deliver on our strategy for further growth and the O’Key team looks forward to working for the benefit of all our shareholders.”
