Poundland owner Pepco to launch IPO in Poland

Pepco, which also owns an eponymous discount chain as well as the Dealz fascia, said the IPO would mark “an important milestone” for the business as it eyes further European expansion.

The retailer operates more than 3,200 stores across 16 countries and has ambitions to grow across the whole of Europe.

Pepco said it intends to apply for listing and admission of shares to the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with the planned offering consisting of the sale of existing shares by current shareholders.

The group is in the midst of a rapid store rollout programme, having opened around 300 net new Pepco stores per year in the three years ending September 30, 2020.

Following the success of its Dealz discount format in Poland and Spain, it aims to open at least 70 new stores every year operating under that fascia.

Poundland operates more than 800 stores, while Dealz, which was introduced in 2011 as part of Poundland’s international expansion drive, owns 199 shops across the Republic of Ireland, Spain and Poland – its largest market.

Pepco trades in Central and Eastern Europe, selling clothing, homewares, toys and seasonal products through its portfolio of more than 2,200 shops in 13 countries. The fascia plans to launch in Spain in the coming months.

As part of the planned listing, Richard Burrows, current chair of British American Tobacco and a former governor of the Bank of Ireland, will join the group as chair

Pepco group chief executive Andy Bond said: “Today’s announcement of our intention to float on the Warsaw Stock Exchange marks an important milestone for the group.

“We are strongly positioned to deliver significant long-term growth, given our market-leading customer proposition in the most attractive sector of retail, the scale of opportunity ahead of us as we expand across the entirety of Europe and the investment in strengthening the infrastructure of the business over recent years.

“We have a track record of delivering consistent, market-leading sales and profit growth over the past three years, the foundation for which is a relentless focus on how we provide our customers with the lowest prices on their regular shopping needs across apparel, homewares-led general merchandise and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) week in, week out.”

He added: “Our business is even stronger than it was a year ago, including an expanded capability within our dedicated sourcing operation, Pepco Group Sourcing, a significantly improved working capital profile agreed with our key suppliers and an ongoing focus on constantly improving our ESG capability across the group.”