Trustpilot secures institutional support for ‘£1 billion-plus’ London float

Trustpilot has confirmed plans for a London listing that the online review platform estimates will see it valued at over £1 billion.

The company said on Monday that it has secured cornerstone investment to the tune of $240 million from big name institutional investors including Blackrock and Caledonia.

Trustpilot said that with the backing it expects a valuation of up to $1.4 billion on admission to the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

The company said it has "cornerstone agreements in place for $240 million of offer shares at an offer price representing an enterprise value of up to $1.4 billion for the group" on IPO. Blackrock has the largest pledge at $45 million.

Trustpilot said it hopes its IPO will raise around $50 million, which it would use to support growth plans and repay debts. On listing it plans to have a free float of at least 25% of issued share capital.

The online company was launched in Denmark in 2007 by founder and chief executive Peter Holten Mühlmann, and has since become one of the world’s biggest platforms for online ratings of businesses and products -with more than 128 million reviews posted to date.

It previously raised around $173million in private financing, and saw revenues of $102million from just over 20,000 paying business subscribers in 2020.

Mühlmann said on Monday that he is "delighted with the quality of institutional support we have received".

Trustpilot has bases in London, Copenhagen and Edinburgh. The founder previously told the Standard he expects listing will also be a key “tool to incentivise staff and to continue to attract the best talent”.

J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are joint sponsors, global co-ordinators and bookrunners on the IPO process, with Berenberg and Danske Bank also acting as bookrunners.

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