Deliveroo aims to sell $1.4 billion of new shares in upcoming IPO

LONDON (Reuters) – Deliveroo said on Monday that it plans to sell around 1 billion pounds ($1.39 billion) of new shares in its upcoming initial public offering (IPO), as it began marketing what is expected to be the biggest London listing in more than seven years.

The British food delivery company, which is backed by Amazon, said its listing will also include the sale of shares by some existing shareholders, potentially pushing the deal size even higher.

The deal is expected to value the firm upwards of $7 billion, based on a private funding round completed in January, which would make it the largest London IPO by market cap since Royal Mail in October 2013.

Deliveroo confirmed that it will have two classes of shares, with founder and chief executive Will Shu to be the sole holder of “class B” stock which will give each of his shares 20 votes, whilst all other shares will carry one vote.

This arrangement is set to last for three years, which one source close to the deal said is designed to protect Deliveroo from a hostile takeover.

Dual-class share structures are a common feature of listed technology companies in the United States but are frowned on by some British investors as they can give executives outsized influence on shareholder votes relative to their stake sizes.

At the moment, London-listed companies cannot have a dual-class structure and gain access to the lucrative FTSE indices at the same time, though that is set to change if recommendations from a recent listings review are put in place.

Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are leading the deal, while Bank of America, Citi, Jefferies and Numis are also part of the syndicate of banks managing the transaction.

($1 = 0.7185 pounds)