Neither in 2023 nor in 2022, total annual IPO value (initial public offerings) of companies entering the main market Warsaw dance floor did not exceed PLN 500 million. The debut market plunged into stagnation after the very successful two previous years (PLN 9.6 billion in 2020 and PLN 9.2 billion a year later). The impasse is to be broken by Żabka joining the stock market.
As Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, the owner of the chain – CVC Capital Partners – plans to place shares of the trading company on the WSE in September. The value of the public offering is expected to be PLN 4–6 billion ($1–1.5 billion, according to agency sources).
As Seweryn Żołyniak, an investment advisor from the Bank Millennium brokerage office, points out, by Polish standards it would be a “very large” offer, which would stimulate interest in the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
– Żabka would be one of the largest companies listed on the Polish market and would probably be immediately included in the WIG20 index, the problem of which is the high share of State Treasury companies. And these are poorly perceived by investors due to their dependence on political decisions – explains the analyst, adding that Żabka’s successful debut could also encourage other companies from the FMCG sector, i.e. the so-called fast-moving goods, to be listed on the WSE.
Żabka is, apart from Biedronka, Lidl, the Eurocash group and Dino Polska, the largest chain of retail grocery stores in Poland.
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