Status: 25.06.2021 1:42 p.m.
The online bicycle retailer Bike24 made its debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Internet providers in particular are currently taking the plunge, because the time is cheap.
From Bianca von der Au,
ARD stock exchange studio
The first price for the Bike24 share was 15.30 euros and thus above the issue price of 15 euros. The company had originally hoped for more. The issue price was at the lower end of the range, which went up to 19 euros – a sign that the demand was not record-breaking beforehand.
With the IPO, Bike 24 raised around 322 million euros. The majority goes to the majority owner Riverside, a US investment company. The company itself has around 100 million euros. The company founder and boss Andres Martin-Birner intends to use the money to drive expansion into other European countries. Most recently, the mail order company for bicycles, cycling accessories and clothing was able to benefit from the bicycle boom in the corona pandemic. Bike24 has grown significantly since it was founded in 2002.
The timing and the environment are right
The company joins a whole chain of companies that have already dared to step onto the Frankfurt floor this year or that still have it ahead of them. After Bike24’s stock market debut today, five more companies are in the starting blocks: They want to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange before the summer break. Next up at the end of next week is the Mr. Spex optician’s turn.
A dozen newcomers to the stock exchange have so far collected more than eight billion euros with their new issues this year. The conditions are more favorable than they have been for a long time, says capital market strategist Chris-Oliver Schickentanz from Commerzbank. “On the one hand, prices have risen sharply, and then the stock market candidates usually come out of their holes.” Low interest rates ensured that there was great demand from investors, who were looking for ways to use their capital, the expert said.
Wait and see as a strategy
But not all newcomers to the stock market bring the desired increase in value right from the start. The online used car platform Auto1, for example, was valued at an initial price of 38 euros per share in February, has since climbed to more than 50 euros – and is currently below the issue price.
Capital market expert Schickentanz therefore advises private investors in particular to take a close look at every investment, because many companies go public at a relatively early stage. Therefore, one should first observe the behavior of other investors before getting on board: “Are the investors really convinced of this business model and then also willing to pay a corresponding price for it?”
Online companies benefited from Corona
Most of the companies in the process of going public are online traders such as About You. The platform offers a young target group individualized fashion for sale via an app. About You is valued at around four billion euros on the stock exchange – but does not come close to the significantly larger top dogs like Amazon or Zalando.
Will the big players soon swallow their smaller competitors? Professor Jörg Funder, trade expert from the FH Worms, doesn’t believe that – at least not as long as the newcomers cover a certain niche. In addition, the market is big enough: “The textile retail trade in Europe is estimated at around 400 billion euros, there you can already deal with two, three or four competitors,” says Funder.
Thanks to Corona, shopping via the Internet has experienced an unprecedented boom – and this trend is likely to continue even after the end of the pandemic: “We are assuming that we have caught up with structural change for around five years in the 18 months of the corona pandemic.” According to Flunder, this “quantum leap” is primarily responsible for business models that are set up digitally. “And that not only ensures significant growth rates, but also creates growth fantasies for the future.”