FRANKFURT (BRAIN) — Two of the largest e-commerce retailers in the bicycle market, Germany's BIKE24 and the UK's WiggleCRC, will each end up publicly traded soon.
Bike24 began a private placement on Wednesday and plans to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange June 25. The company hopes to raise up to 100 million euros ($120 million) through the sale of shares. The company set a price range for a planned private placement of 15-19 euros per share, which would value the company at 662 million to 812 million euros.
BIKE24 was founded in 2002 in Dresden by Andrés Martin-Birner, Falk Herrmann and Lars Witt.
The company said it would use proceeds from the stock offering to accelerate its growth trajectory and continue international expansion. The trading code for shares of BIKE24 is BIKE, ISIN DE000A3CQ7F4.
"We have a performant and scalable platform and we are convinced that the listing on the stock exchange as the next logical step will be a catalyst for our growth strategy. We are one of the leading e-commerce providers around bicycles and with our increasing international presence, we also want to play an active role in the shift towards sustainable and green mobility solutions in our markets," says Martin-Birner, the CEO and co-founder of BIKE24.
According to a press release, in the past three years BIKE24 sales have grown 30% per year with double-digit EBITDA margins. In 2020, BIKE24 generated revenues of 199.2 million euros, an increase of about 45% on the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA rose by more than 70% to 26.7 million euros. This corresponds to a margin of 13.4%.
BIKE24 plans, among other things, to open local online stores in selected markets in continental Europe and to establish a fulfillment infrastructure outside Germany.
Bridgepoint acquired WiggleCRC in 2011 for 180 million pounds. Last week, Signa Sports United announced it had agreed to buy WiggleCRC, and said the combined company will be rolled into Yucaipa Acquisition Corporation, which is already traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: YAC). After the mergers are completed the company will be traded under the SIGNA Sports United name. Yucaipa Acquisition Corporation is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
