Hellman & Friedman's Scout24 mulls IPO

According to reports, a public announcement of its intention to list is due in October. The company could be listing approximately 25% of its shares, with a potential value of more than €500m. Scout24 is said to have an enterprise value of €2.14bn, following Hellman & Friedman's acquisition of a 70% stake for €1.5bn late last year.

Hellman & Friedman bought the 70% stake from Deutsche Telekom, which continues to hold a 30% share.

T-Online International, which later merged with Deutsche Telekom, bought Scout24 from entrepreneur Otto Beishem's Beisheim Holding Schweiz in 2004.

Founded in 1998 by by Christian Mangstl and Joachim Schoss, Scout24 is an online marketplace available in 22 countries. Headquartered in Munich, it has a yearly turnover of approximately €300m and around 13 million users.

Scout24's platforms include real estate online platform ImmobilienScout24 and car-selling online platform AutoScout24, both of which were launched in 1999. In 2000, it launched online dating website FriendScout24, finance comparison portal FinanceScout24 and human resources and vacancies website JobScout24, while online travel comparison platform TravelScout24 was launched in 2002.

The Scout24 IPO statement came on the same day online fashion retailer Zalando set the share price range for its 1 October listing on the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Zalando listing will only be the third private equity-backed company to float this year in Germany, but could open the floodgates for a host of other IPOs in the region.

Zalando parent Rocket Internet last week announced its intention to list on the entry standard market of the Frankfurt Börse. Both Zalando and the Samwer Brothers start-up accelerator are backed by Investment AB Kinnevik and Holtzbrinck Ventures.

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