UK meal delivery platform Deliveroo has called on four banks to review an IPO in London, after a strong performance in 2020 during the pandemic, Sky News reveals.
Deliveroo has chosen the American Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and Jefferies, and the British Numis to work on this operation which could value the company between 5 and 8 billion pounds, indicated the news channel on its site Wednesday evening.
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Asked by AFP, Deliveroo declined to comment, as did Bank of America Merrill Lynch, while other banks did not respond to requests.
The IPO could be launched around April and would be one of the most important operations of 2021 on the UK market, according to Sky News which quotes "
market sources
".
This IPO would crown a high-speed development for Deliveroo since its creation in 2013, to the point of whetting the appetite of the retail giant Amazon.
Last August, the British competition authority gave the green light to an acquisition of Amazon's 16% stake in Deliveroo.
The latter announced in 2019 the operation which provides for a total fundraising of $ 575 million from Amazon and investment funds in order to expand its activities to meet ever-increasing demand.
Deliveroo, headquartered in London, works with 140,000 restaurants in 800 cities around the world and has some 110,000 delivery people in 12 markets, recognizable by the towering green backpacks they wear while cycling the streets.
Its social practices have, however, often been singled out because of the precariousness of the employment contracts of delivery men, which has earned it a protest movement from its couriers in France and a court conviction in Spain.
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In addition, its financial results are improving, although Deliveroo suffered losses of 319.9 million pounds in 2019, due to the cost of investments.
Its turnover climbed 62% to 771.8 million pounds.
For 2020, the company does not yet provide a figure but said at the end of December that it recorded sales growth during the year and says it has been profitable for more than six months.
