MOSCOW, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Russian men’s clothing chain Henderson said on Friday it planned to hold an initial public offering (IPO) on Moscow Exchange next month, tapping into space vacated by departing Western firms on Russia’s retail market.
There have been few Russian share listings since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Those IPOs that have been launched have generally been small and dependent on Russian investors after an exodus of Western capital.
Henderson, which operates 159 stores across 64 cities in Russia as well as in Armenia, said new shares were expected to make up the bulk of the offer, and the free float following the IPO was expected to exceed 10%.
Henderson did not provide a valuation estimate, but said its revenue has grown an average of 18% annually over the last four years and reached 12.4 billion roubles ($129 million) in 2022.
A person with knowledge of the deal said a valuation of 25-27 billion roubles was possible.
Tech firm Astra (ASTR.MM) last week raised around $36 million in a Moscow IPO and sources told Reuters that gold miner Uzhuralzoloto also plans an offer this year.
“(Henderson) is positioned in the ‘affordable luxury’ segment, where global brands that have left the Russian market previously occupied a high share,” said Alfa Bank analysts.
Hundreds of foreign retailers shut up shop in response to what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, leaving some of Moscow’s most prestigious streets with boarded up stores and the industry reeling from a roughly $2.5 billion hit.
Russian designers and brands are helping plug the gap.
Alfa Bank said Henderson would likely show the highest revenue growth rates among public companies in Russia’s consumer sector over the next three to five years.
Citing analytical data, Henderson said the Russian men’s clothes market is expected to grow to 1.14 trillion roubles in 2028 from 550 billion roubles in 2022.
($1 = 96.2500 roubles)
Reporting by Olga Popova and Alexander Marrow; additional reporting by Mark Trevelyan; editing by Christina Fincher and Jason Neely
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