PRESS: Russian healthy food chain VkusVill eyes IPO

MOSCOW, Jan 30 (PRIME) -- VkusVill, a retailer positioning as a healthy food store chain, has launched a road show for a possible initial public offering (IPO), Kommersant business daily reported on Wednesday quoting sources.

According to the Unified State Register of Companies, Baring Vostok owns 12.16% in VkusVill, while founder Andrei Krivenko owns 1.76%, and businessman Yevgeny Lisitsyn controls 86.08% through Proyekt Izbyonka LLC and Evolyutsionnaya Tsep JSC. Infoline-Analytics says VkusVill’s revenue stood at 48 billion rubles in 2018.

One source told the business daily that the company was considering different IPO options, including a placement of up to 25% of the expanded equity on the Moscow Exchange. To this end, VkusVill will have to raise the current shareholder equity by about 30%, Aton senior analyst Viktor Dima said as quoted by Kommersant.

The discussion is still at an early stage, the company is yet to choose the underwriters and other details of the deal. A representative of an investment fund that participated in the roadshow said that VkusVill is not large enough for an IPO, and put its realistic date in 2020–2021, the business daily reported.

(66.3412 rubles – U.S. $1)

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