Russian car-sharing provider Delimobil will sell up to a 10% stake to investors in a pre-placement ahead of its planned IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in early 2022, its founder and main shareholder told Reuters.
Delimobil, one of Russia’s biggest car-sharing providers along with Yandex Drive and others, announced its IPO plans in August 2019, saying it would float a 40% stake.
The 10% pre-placement would be in addition to that.
“We are in talks with our investors who are interested in the IPO about entering into equity during a pre-IPO,” Vincenzo Trani said in an interview in his office. “We’re looking at two options: convertible bonds and a sale of equity stakes,” he said.
A company spokesman said pre-placements usually take place 6-12 months before the IPO.
Moscow is one of the world’s fastest growing markets for car-sharing. Trani had previously said his company planned to raise around $300 million via a listing in New York, but indicated it may be revising that target.
“…but time passes, our revenue increases,” Trani said. “Now we’re waiting for a new valuation from our consultants. The trends are very good.”
The company is working with Sberbank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as consultants on the IPO, but has not yet signed contracts with them, Trani said.
Russia suspended car sharing from mid-April to mid-June during the coronavirus. However, Delimobil says its revenue in the remaining months of 2020 averaged 50% more than last year, helped by people using public transport less during the pandemic and as some smaller car sharing providers went out of business.
Trani said the company still planned to offer up to 40% in new shares at the IPO, and that current shareholders, including his Mikro Capital fund, which owns 85% of Delimobil, did not plan to sell their existing shares.
Car sharing has flourished in Moscow as the city has made parking expensive and has limited the amount of available parking to reduce traffic.
Delimobil has around 13,000 cars and now plans to build up its fleet, primarily outside Moscow. It aims to have a fleet of 15,500 cars by the end of 2020 and 28,000 in 2021.
As well as Yandex Drive, its competitors include BelkaCar and YouDrive, although Delimobil has the most developed network in regions outside Moscow, according to central bank research.
Source: Reuters.com