Berlin-based internet giant Rocket hopes to raise 1.6 billion euros (2.04 billion dollars) in what is expected to be one of Europe’s biggest tech stock trading debuts, the company said Wednesday.
The plans by the startup incubator and venture capital group for next month’s initial public offering (IPO) form part of a wave of stock market debuts by internet companies around the world.
Rocket, which establishes start-ups and helps them develop, began taking orders Wednesday for shares priced between 35.50 and 42.50 euros.
Rocket shares are due to begin trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on October 9.
The company “has an enormous potential,” said chief and founder Oliver Samwer, who, along with brothers Marc and Alexander, has been a trailblazer in the German internet industry.
“The orders that we have already received point to the confidence of investors in Rocket and its team,” Samwer said.
The share price offer brings the group’s value up to 6.5 billion euros, with the IPO-raised funds expected to help the company carve out new businesses in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Last week’s successful launch of Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba on the New York Stock Market underlined the current widespread interest in internet stocks.
Rocket’s market listing will also follow the October 1 flotation of German-based online retailer Zalando, which that company hopes will raise between 507 million and 633 million euros.
Established in 2007, Rocket was also one of the original investors in Zalando, which is now Europe’s biggest online fashion group.
The Zalando share offer is already oversubscribed, financial sources told dpa-AFX.
The stock market launches by Zalando and Rocket will be the biggest tech stock listings in Germany since the 2000 listing of a one-time telephone monopoly Deutsche Telekom.
With more than 20,000 staff in more than 100 countries, Rocket also identifies successful online ventures in other countries and then clones them for launch in other markets. Zalando, for example, grew out of an Amazon-owned fashion site.
GNA
