eCommerce Firm ESW Weighing $4B IPO

eCommerce specialist ESW is weighing an initial public offering (IPO) that could value the firm in the neighborhood of $4 billion.

As Bloomberg News reported Friday (March 4), the company is working with Lazard Ltd. on plans for a listing in Amsterdam in the latter half of 2022, sources close to the matter said. Bank of America Corp., Societe Generale SA and UBS Group AG have been appointed as coordinators for the listing, and other banks could be hired to help with the share sale in the weeks ahead.

ESW works with brands such as Nike and Estee Lauder to help deliver their goods in 200 markets, offering pricing, payments and account management technology and other logistics services. The company is owned by Asendia, a joint venture between French postal operator La Poste and Swiss Post.

Bloomberg noted that while demand for eCommerce companies remains high, market volatility stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine is derailing a lot of European IPO plans.

Read more: Russian Invasion Prompts Companies to Rethink IPOs

That’s part of a larger trend, as PYMNTS noted Friday (March 4), as businesses with planned IPOs are holding off while they rethink their strategy in light of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Data from Dealogic shows American firms pulled $1.17 billion in equity capital market transactions during the month of February, versus $350 million in deals scrapped by the same time the year prior. Businesses in Europe withdrew $634.31 million in equity capital markets deals during February, compared to $140.4 million in February 2021.

“Looking at what’s getting done, my market is relatively closed,” Josh Weismer, who heads the equity-capital-markets business at Mizuho Americas, told the Wall Street Journal. “Ultimately, volatility is what rules the day.”

Weismer added that people could easily walk away from IPOs or postpone because of the “geopolitical situation.”