Polish e-commerce platform Allegro sells up to $1.3 billion in shares

It is reported that shareholders of Allegro , Poland's largest e-commerce platform, are seeking to raise up to 4.9 billion zlotys , or about US$1.3 billion, by accelerating the issuance of existing shares .

A seller group consisting of Permira Holdings, Cidinan Sarl and Mepinan Sarl will issue approximately 76.5 million Allegro shares, representing approximately 7% of the Polish company’s issued share capital. Prior to the transaction, the shareholders collectively held 69.8% of the shares and agreed not to sell more shares for 90 days, subject to customary waivers.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are book-running managers, while PKO Bank is the joint lead manager for the offering.

Allegro's shares closed at 63.63 zlotys on Tuesday , up 48 percent since Allegro went public in Warsaw in October .

The massive sale of Allegro shares is related to Amazon's plan to enter Poland this year , which it announced as part of a bid to gain a foothold in the booming $19 billion e-commerce market in the Eastern European country .

Allegro is the largest B2C marketplace in Poland. It has been developing rapidly in Poland and even in Europe, especially in 2020, when its growth exceeded expectations.

Data shows that Allegro platform 's net revenue in fiscal year 2020 was 4 billion Polish zlotys (US$1.1 billion), an increase of 54.2% from 2.6 billion Polish zlotys in fiscal year 2019.

Adjusted EBITDA was PLN 1.8 billion ($475.2 million) last year, up 30.8% from fiscal 2019. At the end of 2020, Allegro had around 13 million active buyers on its marketplace, up nearly 15% from 2019.

In order to accelerate its development and expand the market scale, the Allegro platform recently announced that Allegro Smart's transportation service subscribers will be able to order products from Germany and the Czech Republic starting next month .

Free shipping from Germany and the Czech Republic will be available for orders over PLN 80 ($20.80). Deliveries will be carried out by DPD and UPS. Previously, Allegro Smart subscribers only received free shipping for Polish products .

Allegro has also decided to stop allowing unregistered users to buy products on the site. Instead, it has set up a new SMS authorization system.

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