The German IPO market is on course to experience its best-ever first half-year, with IPOs raising more than €8 billion until June. The previous high was €7.3 billion and dates back to 2018.
S&C is leading the way in this unique market, advising on eight successfully completed IPOs/Frankfurt listings in the first half-year, including three major German e-commerce IPOs in the last three weeks. With S&C acting as issuer’s counsel in Frankfurt, the Firm’s transaction highlights during the last weeks include advising:
- ABOUT YOU, valued at €3.9 billion post-IPO, which started trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on June 16 following a private placement of newly issued shares and existing shares sold by management. The private placement had a total offering size of €842 million. ABOUT YOU is one of the largest fashion and lifestyle platforms in Europe, with €1.2 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending February 2021 and more than 30 million unique monthly active users in 23 European markets.
- Bike24, valued at €662 million following its private placement on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on June 25. Bike24 operates one of the leading cycling e-commerce platforms in continental Europe and is a portfolio company of the Riverside Company.
- Mister Spex, Europe’s leading omnichannel optician, with a market cap of c. €829 million ahead of its first day of trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of ophthalmic lenses and frames, has agreed to purchase shares worth €50 million as cornerstone investor.
S&C lawyers advising on the IPOs include Carsten Berrar, Max Birke, Krystian Czerniecki, Clemens Rechberger, Philipp Hartmann, Maximilian Heufelder, Alexander M. Koch, Daniel Kornack, Isabelle de Lange, Zin Nakam, Miriam Peter, Jill Pohlmann, Moritz Reichenbach and Paul Rhode.