Allegro Holders Sell up to $1.3 Billion Stake in Placement

(Bloomberg) -- Shareholders in Allegro.eu SA, Poland’s biggest e-commerce platform, are seeking to raise as much as 4.9 billion zloty ($1.3 billion) in an accelerated offering of existing shares, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News.

A group of sellers, comprising Permira Holdings, Cidinan Sarl and Mepinan Sarl, are offering about 76.5 million Allegro shares, or about 7% of the Polish company’s issued capital. They had gathered enough investor demand to cover the deal within about 30 minutes of opening the book, terms show.

Allegro closed at 63.63 zloty on Tuesday. While the stock has slumped 25% this year, it is still up 48% since listing in October. Shares in these types of offerings are usually sold at a discount.

The offering comes as Amazon.com Inc. this year announced plans to enter Poland in a bid to get a share of the eastern European country’s flourishing $19 billion e-commerce market. Earlier this month, Allegro opted not to raise its profit growth guidance for the year to take into account the rising competition from its U.S.-based rival.

The selling shareholders own a combined 69.8% stake prior to the transaction and have agreed not to offer more stock for a period of 90 days, subject to customary waivers.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are the bookrunners, while PKO Bank is the co-lead manager on the offering.

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