Latham & Watkins Advises on €5.1 Billion IPO of Pepco Group

Latham & Watkins advised the committee of lenders under the €7.3 billion secured facilities to Steinhoff Europe and the cornerstone investors on the debut of ordinary shares, listing, and admission to trading on the regulated (main) market operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange N.V. of Steinhoff Europe’s subsidiary, the Pepco Group.  Pepco owns the Poundland chain in the UK, as well as the PEPCO and Dealz brands in Europe and operates over 3,200 stores across 16 countries.

The listing is the largest IPO in Poland this year. Based on the offer price of PLN 40 the implied initial market capitalisation of the Pepco Group was PLN 23 billion (€5.1 billion). Including the over-allotment option, approximately 92 million shares were sold in the offer, including a 2.5 million share allocation to retail investors. A further 23 million existing shares were sold to the lenders to Steinhoff Europe under the terms of their existing debt facilities.

Latham & Watkins has been representing the committee of lenders since 2018 when Steinhoff Europe’s debt facilities were consolidated and refinanced, and this transaction represents a significant milestone for the group and the lenders.

The Latham team advising on the strategic cross border deal, combining market leading capital markets and finance advice, was led by London partners Simon Baskerville and James Inness, with associates Matthew Hope and Nick Fisher.