WeTransfer owner WeRock seeks $714-813 million valuation in IPO

By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The company that owns the WeTransfer file service will be valued at between 629 million and 716 million euros ($714-813 million) at its initial public offering (IPO) in Amsterdam this month, it said on Thursday.

WeRock, whose name will soon be changed to The Creative Productivity Group NV, published a prospectus https://wetransfer.com/investors/ipo and set a price range for the shares being sold at 17.5-20.5 euros each, with a mix of existing and new shares on offer.

The group expects to raise around 125 million euros in fresh capital from the new shares, while existing shareholders will sell up to 5.4 million shares, leading to a total offer size of 285-290 million euros and a free float of around 43.5%.

Proceeds of the primary offering will be used to develop the company's business, finance possible acquisitions, and pay off management incentive plans, as well as settle a 23.4 million bill with its majority owner to convert preference shares into ordinary shares.

Current investors include Highland Europe Technology, which holds a 55% stake, and HPE Institutional Fund, which has 13%.

The company first announced its intention on Jan 12 to seek a listing on Amsterdam's Euronext stock exchange.

It has slightly scaled back ambitions, as it had estimated the primary offer would be around 160 million euros.

The company is best known for the WeTransfer file transfer service but it also offers collaborative tools.

It reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of 21.3 million euros on revenue of 72 million euros for the first nine months of 2021 and is targeting annual revenue growth above 20% in the medium term.

Morgan Stanley and BofA Securities are global coordinators for the offering, with ABN Amro and Barclays Bank acting as bookrunners.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Jason Neely and EMelia Sithole-Matarise)