Online food-ordering services feeding Benelux's IPO surge

At the end of September, Takeaway.com floated on Euronext Amsterdam after four years with Macquarie Capital's and Prime Ventures' support. The offering consisted of existing shares worth €153m and €175m of newly issued shares.

With an enterprise value of €849m, a market cap of €993m, and shares trading at €23 apiece, Takeaway.com is poised to be the largest IPO in 2016 in the Benelux region, above the €820m market cap achieved by Dutch gym operator Basic-Fit when 3i floated it in June.

"In the end, you always look at new possibilities to fund your business," says Joris Wilton, manager of investor relations at Takeaway.com. "Given the company's size, and its current growth stage, we thought an IPO was the best path to follow at this point."

The announced Takeaway.com IPO will give the market a push in the right direction, and IPOs should make sense, particularly for B2C internet companies" – Charly Zwemstra, Main Capital Partners

The company is hoping to raise at least €350m in gross proceeds through the IPO, intending to use €40m to fund organic growth and consolidate market positions in Germany and other key markets, as well as €22.5m to repay outstanding amounts and fund the remainder of the acquisition of rival group JustEat's Benelux arm.

JustEat, for its part, went public in 2014, with an IPO valuing it just above Takeaway.com, at £1.4bn. Launched in Denmark in 2001, the group listed on the London Stock Exchange and is currently valued at around £3.5bn. "Going public was another step focused on the growth of the company," a JustEat spokesperson says. "Our industry is defined by barriers to sustainable scale - if you can't scale, you can't win. We raised £360m in our IPO and that capital enabled us to continue investing and improving our business, with initiatives in technology and marketing."

For JustEat and Takeaway.com, going public was the logical step to support continued growth, but it remains to be seen if a successful IPO by the latter could attract more private-equity-backed companies to the public market and support the IPO activity in the Benelux region.

Return of the IPO
In recent years, medium and large listings on Euronext Amsterdam have been on the rise in the Benelux region. In 2014, Dutch chemicals distribution company IMCD Group, backed by Bain Capital, reached a market cap of €1.05bn as one of four IPOs by private-equity- and VC-owned companies. In the following year, five listings were registered, including AAC Capital Benelux's Lucas Bols with a €196m market cap, 3i's Refresco Gerber with €1.2bn and Blackstone's Intertrust.

Takeaway.com now marks the third IPO of the year, preceded by Egeria's Sif Holding, valued at up to €434m, and 3i's Basic-Fit, valued at €820m. Charly Zwemstra, managing partner at Dutch buyout house Main Capital Partners, says: "The climate for IPOs for online businesses and software groups will improve within the next 12 months. The announced Takeaway.com IPO will give the market a push in the right direction, and IPOs should make sense, particularly for B2C internet companies."

London-headquartered GP 3i is among the firms that view the Benelux private equity window as open. The firm has made a significant amount of investments in the region in recent years, positioning itself as a main local player. "The IPO environment in Benelux currently looks healthy," says 3i Benelux partner and managing director Pieter de Jong. "We see IPOs as an attractive exit route for our investments, as demonstrated with the current listings of Refresco and Basic-Fit."

After a slowdown due to generally unstable stock markets, it seems IPOs are making a comeback in the Benelux region, with GPs again considering it a viable exit option.

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