A Deliveroo courier travels along Regent Street delivering takeaway food in central London during the Covid-19 Tier 4 restrictions.
Pietro Recchia | SOPA pictures | LightRocket via Getty Images
LONDON – UK grocery delivery startup Deliveroo announced Thursday that it plans to make a listing in London to give the city a boost after Brexit.
The Amazon-supported company is expected to go public this year. It ranged from a near-failed outcome in 2020 as part of a competitive review of Amazon’s minority stake to operating profitability towards the end of the year as demand for online take-out services increased due to coronavirus lockdowns due to lockdowns. Amazon’s stake in Deliveroo was given a green light by the supervisory authority last summer.
Deliveroo announced that it will introduce a dual-class share structure for its market debut, giving its founder and CEO Will Shu more voting rights and thus more control over the direction of the company. It came after a government-backed review calling for reforms to the London listing regime, including the ability to list stocks with two classes developed by Google and Facebook.
In the case of Deliveroo, the dual class structure will be limited to three years, followed by a move to a traditional single class share structure, in line with recent recommendations.
“Deliveroo was born in London,” Shu said in a statement Thursday. “This is where I started the business and delivered our first order. London is a great place to live, work, do business and eat. That is why I am so proud and excited to have a listing here.”
The news is a boon to the London stock market looking to attract more high-growth tech firms to compete with New York and the European Union after the UK pulls out of the bloc. Amsterdam overtook London as Europe’s largest equity trading capital last month.
“The UK is one of the best places in the world to start, grow and list. We are determined to build on that reputation after leaving the EU,” said UK Treasury Secretary Rishi Sunak. “That is why we are looking into reforms to encourage faster-growing and more dynamic companies to get listed in the UK.”
“Deliveroo has created thousands of jobs and is a true UK tech success story,” added Sunak. “It is good news that the next phase of their growth will take place in the UK public markets.”
Deliveroo has not yet released pricing information for its IPO. Recently, $ 180 million in new funding valued at $ 7 billion was raised. In addition to Amazon, Deliveroo is also backed by Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and Accel.
“This is an important boost for UK technology,” said Stephen Kelly, chair of Tech Nation lobby group. “With seven new unicorns created in 2020 alone, the UK now has a total of 80 scale-ups valued at more than £ 1 billion.
“That is more than twice as many unicorns as in Germany and France,” added Kelly. “We assume that in the golden age of British technology that is just beginning, more self-cultivated success stories will follow.”
Several other firms are rumored to be investigating London listings, including fintech start-up Wise and cybersecurity firm Darktrace. On Monday, the Danish ratings website Trustpilot announced that it was considering an IPO in London.
