- Russian e-scooter company Whoosh raises $33 million in Moscow IPO
- IPO gives Whoosh a market cap of $326 million
- Whoosh reduced the size of the offering from the previous target of $80 million
- This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Whoosh held Russia’s only initial public offering (IPO) of the year on Wednesday, although the e-scooter company has raised less than originally hoped in a market devoid of Western investors since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine in February .
The company said it raised 2.1 billion rubles ($33.2 million), less than half of its original $80 million goal.
The shares were placed at 185 rubles each, the lower end of the price range, giving Whoosh a market capitalization of 20.6 billion rubles ($326 million), the company said in a statement. At 1620 GMT they were trading at 185.4 rubles.
Whoosh said existing shareholders provided 200 million rubles worth of shares for possible stabilization in the secondary market, bringing the total volume of the IPO to 2.3 billion rubles.
CEO Dmitry Chuyko cited COVID-19, Russia’s “military special operation” in Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin’s subsequent mobilization of soldiers as challenges his company overcame in making the debut.
He said liquidity is understandably tight, with a free float of just 10%. “Of course I would like more (liquidity), but we have what we have,” Chuyko told reporters at a bell-ringing ceremony at the Moscow Stock Exchange.
While Whoosh’s debut breathes life into a doomed market, it also reflects the small volumes and reliance on retail investors that are likely to characterize listings on a Russian stock market with no Western capital.
According to Whoosh, top Russian mutual funds, which declined to name names, accounted for more than half of the total IPO volume.
“In addition to institutional investors, more than 20,000 individual investors became our shareholders following the IPO, demonstrating confidence in our company and its ambitious goals,” said Chuyko.
When asked if Whoosh was hoping for more demand from retail investors, CFO Alexander Sinyavsky said the company has kept its expectations fluid.
With the market gripped by geopolitical uncertainty, it is difficult to predict what the future will hold.
“We are satisfied that we received a demand of almost 1 billion (roubles) from private investors,” he said.
Whoosh, whose yellow and orange scooters are a common sight in Moscow until snowfall forces a winter break, plans to use the funds to increase the size of its fleet and expand into new regions.
As of September 30, it operated 82,000 scooters in 40 cities across Russia and the former Soviet states with 11.2 million registered users.
Russian companies had high IPO hopes after a record 2021 in which $3.7 billion was raised and investment banks earned more than $100 million in fees, but the conflict in Ukraine has largely dashed those ambitions.
($1 = 63.2000 rubles)
Reporting by Alexander Marrow, Olga Popova and Jake Cordell; Editing by Mark Trevelyan
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