Online Retailer Ozon Has Best Russia IPO Debut Since 2011
Online Retailer Ozon Has Best Russia IPO Debut Since 2011
(Bloomberg) -- E-commerce operator Ozon Holding PLC made the best market debut for a Russian company since 2011, as investors rush to snap up stock in online firms benefiting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Ozon gained 34% in New York to $40.18 per share on Tuesday, making it the best first-day performance since online giant Yandex’s initial public offering in 2011. In Moscow, the retailer’s shares also leaped on Wednesday after some investors failed to get as much as they wanted in the $990 million U.S. IPO.
“There have been very few IPOs in the last few years to compare it with but all of Russian e-commerce or tech flotations -- Yandex, Mail.ru, Headhunter -- have been well-received in the past,” Julian Rimmer, a trader at Investec Bank Plc in London, said by email. “This is what emerging-market investors want exposure to, rather than the state-owned enterprises and old-economy behemoths in energy and resource sectors.”
A spate of technology IPOs this year have raised more than $60 billion globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Russian online cinema Ivi.ru is also considering a U.S. listing, RBC news website reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified people familiar with its plans.
Ozon’s market value rose to 542 billion rubles ($7.2 billion) on Wednesday, overtaking Russian social networks and games operator Mail.ru Group Ltd. Ozon is the largest Russian listing since EN+ Group Plc in 2017 and the first Russian business to sell shares in the U.S. since Kismet Acquisition One Corp.’s blank-check IPO in August.
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