Westwing, a Germany-based online furniture store backed by e-commerce group Rocket Internet, plans to raise up to €120m ($139m) in an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Reuters reported yesterday.
Founded in 2011, Westwing operates a shopping club that offers daily flash sales with discounts of up to 70% on furniture and home accessories. It claims a 28 million-strong customer base spanning 11 countries.
The company will use the IPO proceeds to enhance its technology and marketing activities and to repay debt. It made a profit in the fourth quarter of 2017 but posted a €4.9m loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the year from €266m in revenue.
Westwing has raised a total of $262m to date and most recently received $27m in convertible note financing in 2016 at a $564m valuation. It had secured $29.7m in funding from Rocket Internet and unnamed existing backers in a 2015 round that valued it at a $530m.
Tengelmann Ventures, the investment arm of retailer Tengelmann, backed a $98.7m round for the company in 2014 alongside Rocket Internet, conglomerate Access Industries, financial services group Fidelity, Kinnevik, Odey and Summit Partners.
Rocket Internet currently owns a 32% stake in Westwing, though Reuters did not reveal the sizeof the stakes held by its other investors. Berenberg and Citigroup are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the proposed offering.