Believe officially launched its IPO on the Euronext Paris stock exchange yesterday, although the offering is raising around €300m ($366m) rather than the €500m that the company had previously said it was “contemplating” raising.
Shares in the music distributor will be priced between €19.50 and €22.50, with trading expected to begin on 10 June. Believe could be valued at €1.9bn-€2.1bn if all goes well.
The company has also published its financial results for the first quarter of 2021, revealing that it generated revenues of €124.1m ($151.4m), up by 26.3% year-on-year.
However, after cost of sales, marketing, tech/product expenses and other costs, Believe reported an operating loss of €7.9m, compared to €5.7m a year ago. Its net loss was €12.9m. Bear in mind that costs relating to the IPO are part of this.
The financial filing includes more details on Believe’s business, including its digital music revenues growth (26%); a breakdown of its revenues by territory (18.7% from Germany and 17.6% from France for example).
Meanwhile, Believe has also revealed that French investment firm Fonds Stratégique de Participations (FSP) is a key investor in the IPO, taking a €60m stake.
“This transaction aims to build a solid and balanced shareholder base alongside TCV, our historical long-term shareholder specialising in technology companies, at a time when Believe is accelerating its development driven by its profitable growth trajectory,” said CEO Denis Ladegaillerie.
He also offered a strong hint at announcements to come in the months following the public listing. “It will allow us to finance our growth, in particular through targeted acquisitions…”
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