LONDON (Reuters) – Deliveroo said shares worth £ 50 million ($ 69 million) would be reserved for customers during the upcoming IPO, with the offering being branded “Good food with a side of stocks.”
The Amazon-backed food delivery company on Thursday announced plans to list in London, with a potential value of $ 7 billion, making it the biggest market debut in Britain in three years.
Founder and CEO Will Shu said Deliveroo’s customers had supported the company’s growth and wanted to give them the opportunity to share in the next phase of his journey.
“Too often normal people are excluded from IPOs, and the only participants are the institutional investors,” he said on Sunday.
“I wanted to give as many customers the opportunity to become shareholders, so we’re making £ 50 million in stock available to them in addition to our restaurant partners and riders.”
Deliveroo said any customer who placed an order could register their interest through the company’s app starting Monday.
Each would be able to apply for up to £ 1,000 of shares, it said, adding that if the offer was oversubscribed, loyal customers would take precedence.
Russ Mold, investment director at online platform AJ Bell, said a year of lockdowns had fueled demand for companies like Deliveroo and that habits formed during the pandemic were expected to remain in the recovery for a long time.
“All of this suggests that the IPO offer is likely to be a slugfest for the £ 50m customer share in Deliveroo,” he said.
Deliveroo said it would also recognize the role the deliverers have played in the success of a £ 16m rewards program to be launched on the day of listing.
Cash rewards from £ 10,000 to £ 200 are available to riders in Deliveroo’s 21 markets based on the number of orders delivered. It said the average per eligible rider would be 440 pounds.
($ 1 = 0.7225 pounds)
Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Christina Fincher