OSLO (Reuters) -Robotics firm AutoStore said on Friday its planned stock market listing could value the SoftBank-backed company at up to 103 billion Norwegian crowns ($12.0 billion).<\/p>\n
AutoStore announced plans on Sept. 28 for an initial public offering (IPO) to take place on the Euronext Oslo stock exchange in October, with the aim of raising $315 million in fresh cash and allowing existing owners to sell some holdings.<\/p>\n
The company said shares will be sold at 27-31 Norwegian crowns each, valuing the company at between 90 billion and 103 billion crowns, making it the country\u2019s most valuable IPO in two decades.<\/p>\n
In April, SoftBank bought here a 40% stake in the Norwegian company for $2.8 billion, valuing AutoStore at about $7 billion at the time. Thomas H. Lee Partners and EQT are among its other investors.<\/p>\n
AutoStore could become Norway\u2019s most valuable new listing since the 2001 debut of Statoil, now known as Equinor, which was valued at 151 billion crowns at the time of its IPO.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1996, AutoStore has 20,000 robots deployed across more than 35 countries to automate warehouses. The company uses robots to store and retrieve products, allowing customers to store four times the inventory in the same space.<\/p>\n
The company, whose customers include ASDA, Gucci and Lufthansa, plans to use to proceeds from the IPO to reduce debt, invest in growth and allow share sales by its investors.<\/p>\n
AutoStore expects revenue of about $300 million in 2021 and more than $500 million in 2022 with a project pipeline worth $3.4 billion across 2,000 projects.<\/p>\n
It reported net revenue of $182.1 million last year.<\/p>\n
Bankers from Carnegie, J.P Morgan, Morgan Stanley, ABG Sundal Collier, Citigroup, Jefferies, Mizuho Securities, SpareBank 1 Markets and Moelis & Company are involved in the deal, AutoStore said.<\/p>\n
($1 = 8.5840 Norwegian crowns)<\/p>\n