It seems HelloFresh will head to the stock exchange in September. The meal box delivery service has been planning the IPO for two years, but now CEO Dominik Richter says it will happen soon.
Lowered expectations
HelloFresh’ IPO almost happened two years ago, but the plan was scrapped following disappointing results. CEO Richter says he finally expects HelloFresh to appear on the stock exchange in September.
He also immediately lowered possible expectations: he feels the shares, valued at about 2 billion euro, should only be judged three to five years from now. That reticence is probably because of American competitor Blue Apron’s IPO in June: it lost more than half its value since then.
Increased competition
The increased competition from major supermarket chains is the main reason for the CEO’s careful forecast. Companies like HelloFresh and Blue Apron once had a monopoly on meal boxes, but many major chains have now launched their own version. Even Amazon started a trial of its own meal box last month.
Despite a 50 % turnover increase in the first half of the year, net losses grew from 52.9 to 56.7 million euro. An IPO should help give the company additional financial breathing space, to allow for further expansion.
