Riverside-backed Bike24 to list in €662m IPO

The first day of trading is expected to be 25 June 2021, according to a statement.

The company set its offer price at €15 per share.

The offer comprises 21.5 million bearer shares, including 6.7 million new shares from a capital increase, corresponding to a volume of €322m.

The company stands to generate proceeds of €100m from the IPO, which it intends to use to support its international growth.

Berenberg and JP Morgan are acting as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the transaction.

As demand for bikes and electric bikes soared during the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020, boosted by factors including decreased use of public transport and increased leisure time for many consumers, PE players have taken advantage of opportunities for both buyouts and exits in the sector.

The DACH market has been particularly active when it comes to such deals, with five of the 13 deals recorded in this sub-sector in the past year taking place in the region, according to Unquote Data.

Bregal acquired a minority stake in Austria-based children's bicycle manufacturer Woom in September 2020, while Borromin Capital acquired Little John Bikes in June 2021.

Bike hiring companies have also drawn investment from private equity in the past year, including UK-based Sigo, which drew a £5.7m investment from Codex Partners in September 2020.

The sector has also now produced two of Germany's PE-backed IPOs of 2021. HGears, an electric bike components producer backed by Finatem, listed in May 2021 at a market cap of €270m, as reported, netting returns of 6x money and an IRR of around 25% for Finatem.

Previous funding
Riverside initially acquired Bike24 in February 2015. The company posted turnover of €34m in 2012 and employed 190 people at the time of the GP's investment.

In October 2017, the GP sold Bike24 to Wiggle-CRC, a UK market peer acquired by Bridgepoint in 2011. The company was marketed based on revenues of €100m and EBITDA of €10m, Unquote sister publication Debtwire reported at the time. The deal valued the company at €100m, according to Unquote Data. The company employed 300 people at the time.

Riverside subsequently acquired Bike24 from Wiggle-CRC in September 2019. The company posted EBITDA of €12.3m and revenues of around €120m at the time.

Riverside acquired Bike24 for a second time via Riverside Europe Fund VI, which held a final close in March 2019 on €465m. The fund targets companies with enterprise values of €50-300m and EBITDA of €5-30m, deploying equity tickets of €50-150m.The fund has made three platform investments, according to Unquote Data.

Company
Founded in 2002 by Andrés Martin-Birner, Falk Herrmann and Lars Witt, Bike24 is an online retailer selling bikes and accessories, as well as sports equipment and accessories for swimming, running and other outdoor activities such as climbing.

The company generated revenues of €199.2m in 2020, marking a 45% increase on its 2019 turnover. The company posted 2020 adjusted EBITDA of €26.7m, a 70% increase on its EBITDA in 2019.

Bike24 said in its initial IPO statement that Q1 2021 saw revenues rise by 75% compared with the same period in 2020, posting turnover of €58m for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2021 stood at €7.3m, versus €2.9m in 2020.

People
The Riverside Company – Michael Weber (senior partner); Matthias Fink (partner); Tillmann Immisch (principal); Florian Halama (vice-president); Simon Behnken (senior associate); Nicola Tomaschko (associate).
Bike24 – Andrés Martin-Birner (CEO, co-founder).

Advisers
Vendor (The Riverside Company) – GCA Altium, Alexander Grünwald, Thomas Egli, Bernhard Trösch, Guido Viggiani, Dominik Lalla, Jannik Burth (corporate finance).

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• Topics
• Exits
• Consumer
• DACH
• Germany
• IPO
• Riverside