UPDATE: On October 13th, 2021, Coolblue announced it would be postponing its IPO until further notice, citing uncertainty in the markets.
The Netherlands’ second-largest online retailer Coolblue recently announced its plans to go public sometime in October. If you are unfamiliar with Coolblue, keep reading to learn about this growing company. We also discuss the details of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO).
About Coolblue
Coolblue is an e-commerce company that operates in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Coolblue’s roots go back to 1999 in the dorm room of now CEO Pieter Zwart and his two friends Paul de Jong and Bart Kuijpers.
The company now has an integrated offering, including its website, app and 17 physical stores. Coolblue also has its own in-house delivery and installation service, which it uses its ‘Coolblue vans’ and 135 ‘CoolBlueBikes’ for. Coolblue says its CoolblueBikes are an aspect that contributes to its strong ESG profile, along with continuous investments in other environmentally-friendly solutions for its customers, installation of solar panels and its energy label called CoolblueEnergy.
In 2020, Coolblue reported revenues of €2.0 billion, up 34.0% year-over-year, and EBITDA was €114.1 million, a 136.2% increase from 2019.
About the Coolblue IPO
On October 1st, 2021, Coolblue announced its plan to go public through an IPO, listing its shares on Euronext Amsterdam. In its press release on the matter, Coolblue said it intends to use the proceeds of the new shares to strengthen the capital structure of the company after making investments in 2020 and 2021 and to grow geographically, in customer segments, in business propositions and to have more financial flexibility for future business opportunities.
The company aims to raise €150 million with new shares issued in its IPO. There will also be a secondary component in which current shareholders can sell existing shares, aiming for a free float of 20-30%.
Coolblue also noted that it does not intend to pay out any dividends in the medium term and instead will retain profits to expand the growth and development of the business.
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