Page 17 - bne magazine September 2020 russia melting

bne September 2020 Companies & Markets I 17
“The public offering and the debut of Allegro on the Warsaw stock exchange are planned for October this year," PAP reported, citing an anonymous source “familiar with the process”.
If successful, Allegro’s listing would be the biggest IPO on the WSE since the 2010 debut of the state-controlled insurance company PZU, which raised PLN8.1bn (€2.1bn at then exchange rates).
Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa acquired Allegro for
Russian recruitment platform HeadHunter goes unicorn, cements $1bn valuation
EWDN in Moscow
Online recruitment platform HeadHunter has sealed its position as a $1bn tech company after a new multi- million dollar share deal confirmed the company’s soaring valuation, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).
The new deal will see US investment giant Goldman Sachs sell a 9.9% stake for $101mn, thus valuing Headhunter at just over $1bn – a rise in the firm’s valuation of more than $300mn over the last year.
Russian news outlet RBC reported Goldman Sachs will retain a 14.9% stake in Headhunter, which is held in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADS). The deal valued each ADS at $20.25 – up more than 50% from their value at Headhunter’s initial public offering (IPO) in May 2019, when Headhunter became the first Russian-born firm to go for a US IPO since the imposition of sanctions following the annexation of Crimea.
From the early days of the Russian Internet
HeadHunter was founded in 2000 by Russian businessmen Mikhail Frolkin and Yuriy Virovits under the name ‘National Job Club’ (it was renamed into HeadHunter in 2003.) The founders invested about $550,000 in their startup.
In 2007, a 24.5% stake of HeadHunter was acquired by Mail. Ru Group (at that time called Digital Sky Technologies, DST) for $15mn. At the time of purchase, the service’s total worth was estimated at $61.2mn. In 2009, Mail.Ru Group got control of the project and in 2012, it became its sole owner.
$3.25bn in 2016. An estimated 79% of Polish consumers use Allegro for online shopping.
Late last year, Poland’s market watchdog UOKiK ruled that Allegro abused its dominant market position in order to favour its own store over other sellers on the platform.
Allegro revenues came in at PLN2.39bn in 2019, an expansion of 33% versus 2018. The net result grew nearly 73.9% to PLN400mn last year.
Online recruitment platform HeadHunter has sealed its position as a $1bn tech company.
In 2016, HeadHunter was sold by Mail.ru Group to
a consortium of investors led by Elbrus Capital for about $140mn. Goldman Sachs was said to be among the new shareholders.
In February 2019, HeadHunter acquired a 25% stake in Skillaz, a developer of advanced recruitment solutions valued around $15mn at that time.
HeadHunter reported a profit of $25mn for 2019.
The coronavirus pandemic has hit revenues at the recruitment giant, but also helped it pull away from rivals SuperJob
and Rabota.Ru, which have suffered more, said Ivan Kim, telecommunications analyst at VTB Capital. Russia’s upcoming technology tax shakeup could also benefit Headhunter, if
a VAT exemption its rivals currently benefit from is cancelled from next year.
“In 2007, a 24.5% stake of HeadHunter was acquired by Mail. Ru Group giving the service’s total worth of $61.2mn”
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