Online marketplace Fruugo to join London Stock Exchange

Fruugo, the online marketplace, has announced its intention to float next month.

The North West-based company, which was founded in 2006, enables small and medium-sized retailers as well as international brands to market themselves globally by acting as a platform in 28 languages and more than 31 currencies.

Fruugo, which hosts around 1,400 retailers on its platform, said the IPO will raise funding and profile of the company to “fuel a significant increase in the rate of growth of new retailers using Fruugo.”

The IPO proceeds will be initially deployed to increase the speed and automation of onboarding thousands of additional online retailers onto the Fruugo platform, together with continued investment in the user experience for shoppers and CRM initiatives to increase operating performance.

The placing will consist of newly issued shares, as well as existing shares held by the company’s current shareholders.

Panmure Gordon is acting as nominated adviser and sole broker and Rothschild & Co is acting as financial adviser to Fruugon in relation to the proposed placing which is expected to take place in early October.

Dominic Allonby, executive chairman and co-founder, said: “Fruugo has delivered very strong growth and strategic progress in recent years and we are delighted to announce our intention to float, signifying an exciting new chapter in the Group’s long-term development.

“Fruugo’s mission is simple: to enable shoppers everywhere to buy from retailers anywhere, and to enable retailers to access international demand for their products that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.

“Fruugo’s proprietary technology and SEO expertise, in combination with the huge range of product categories available through its platform, means that Fruugo is able to continually tap into worldwide consumer demand for sought after products and categories.

“The business is fast-growing, asset light, and built for scale.

“The IPO will enable the Group to invest further in its technology, including developing the user experience and onboarding process, to continue to achieve its significant growth potential from adding new retailers to the platform.”