Dealz discount store owner seeks to raise €1bn in new shares debut   

Troubled retail group Steinhoff is looking to raise as much as €1bn by listing its European retail arm Pepco in Poland, capitalising on increased demand for discount goods amid the coronavirus crisis.

Pepco in turn owns the Dealz-Poundland discount stores in Ireland, including around 100 outlets in the Republic and 33 in the North, where it also sells its Pep&Co clothing range against rivals such as Primark-Penneys. 

The South Africa-base Steinhoff retailer and other holders plan to sell 101.3 million existing shares but Pepco won’t receive any proceeds from the offering. 

Steinhoff, which was plunged into an accounting scandal in 2017, will list as much as 17.5% of Pepco. Steinhoff has been looking to sell or list the business for more than a year to raise funds to repay debt.

The deal, which values Pepco at as much as €5.6bn, will be priced on May 14, with the new stock set to start trading in Warsaw on or about May 26. Pepco has more than 3,200 stores across Europe, with large presence in Poland. 

Low-priced retailers have thrived over the past year, even with limited or no e-commerce. The global recession triggered by the pandemic has accelerated the generational shift toward frugality and discounters that began during the financial crisis more than a decade ago. 

Bloomberg and Irish Examiner