Rocket Internet brings IPO forward

The offer period opened on 24 September, with the original closing date set at 7 October and a listing due on 9 October. Rocket co-founder Oliver Samwer said the offering was fully subscribed an hour after opening on 24 September.

Rocket has now decided to "accelerate the timetable" for its IPO and close the bookbuilding on 1 October, the day that portfolio company Zalando will list on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The Berlin-based accelerator plans to list the next day, on 2 October. The listing is expected to close on 6 October.

The company has already secured commitments of €582.5m from cornerstone investors. Baillie Gifford & Co, a subsidiary of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, pledged €350m of the total, while JP Morgan Securities put its name down for €100m.

Rocket set a share price range of €35.50-42.50 earlier this week, which could value the company at almost €6.2m. It plans to float 33 million new shares, which would amount to 24% of the company's shareholding and would raise more than €1.4bn if traded at the mid-point of the price range with the over-allotment option of an additional five million shares exercised.

Proceeds have been earmarked for the launch of new companies and to acquire majority stakes in both current and former portfolio companies. Rocket also plans to finance its start-ups beyond the seed round.

All existing shareholders will hold onto their stakes, including Investment AB Kinnevik with a 37.5% share and Holtbrinck Ventures with 2.5%. Along with the cornerstone investors, they have committed to a lock-up period of 12 months.

At the start of this week, Rocket's mail order glasses company Netzoptiker filed for insolvency with the German Handelsregister. The accelerator holds a 42% stake in the online store and took part in a €1.2m funding round in March 2010 led by Omnes Capital.

Samwer brother Marc, Oliver and Alexander founded Rocket Internet in 2007 in Berlin. Its modus operandi is to create versions of successful US business models in Europe and emerging markets. It currently operates its 66 consumer brands across 100 countries, employing 20,000 people.

Berenberg, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have been appointed as joint global coordinators for the impending Rocket IPO, together with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and UBS Investment Bank, which are acting as joint bookrunners.

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