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CFO Markus Boser, CEO and co-founder Christian Bertermann and co-founder Hakan Koç celebrate the IPO.
Photo: AUTO1 Group
The Berlin online used car dealer Auto1 has made a successful stock market debut.
The shares started trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at EUR 55, an increase of 45 percent over the allocation price.
The operator of "wirkaufendeinauto.de" is valued at almost twelve billion euros.
It is the largest German IPO since 2019.
Auto1 boss Christian Bertermann said: "Today's IPO is the starting signal for the next phase of this incredible growth story." Of the issue volume of 1.83 billion euros, the newcomer receives one billion euros, the rest goes to the existing shareholders.
Among other things, the company wants to expand Autohero - the brand for the direct sale of cars to private customers.
Bertermann and his co-founder Hakan Koç become billionaires through the IPO.
Both will continue to hold around 12 percent of the shares each.
This is unusual for a German start-up.
The founders of large German tech companies such as Zalando, Delivery Hero or Hellofresh only held comparatively small blocks of shares after the IPO.
The reason: The companies were largely financed by the start-up factory Rocket Internet.
Slump in sales in the corona crisis
Analyst Konstantin Oldenburger from CMC Markets was not surprised by Auto1's strong debut on the stock market.
"Gone are the days when you first had to personally inspect a car." Auto1 has found a niche and the attractive business model can now also inspire investors.
Last year, however, the business suffered significantly from the corona crisis.
Sales fell by a fifth to 2.8 billion euros.
Auto1 is the first company to enter the Frankfurt stock exchange this year.
The startup, which was founded in 2012, is likely to be followed by a number of great carats.
Vodafone's radio mast subsidiary Vantage is expected to go public in March, which could be valued at up to 18 billion euros.
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hej / Reuters