EMEA Daily: WeTransfer to Seek Amsterdam IPO, UK Retailers Buoyed by Holiday Shopping Season

In today’s top Europe, Middle East and Africa news, WeTransfer is expected to seek an initial public offering (IPO) in Amsterdam, while U.K. retailers’ earnings forecasts have been buoyed by the holiday shopping season.

Plus, NVIDIA and Arm tell the U.K.’s competition watchdog why it should approve their deal, Twig raises $35 million in Series A round to fuel global expansion and multiple reports say that a joint bid for Walgreens Boots Unit is underway.

WeTransfer to Seek Amsterdam IPO

File-sharing platform WeTransfer is expected to go public on Euronext, Amsterdam’s stock exchange. In what would be Europe’s first sizable initial public offering (IPO) of the new year, the Amsterdam-based firm — a division of WeRock NV — is seeking to raise 160 million euros ($182.7 million) in the offering.

While a date has not yet been set for the IPO, WeRock said its offer would include a primary and secondary offering of shares.

UK Retailers Buoyed by Holiday Shopping Season

Retailers J Sainsbury, JD Sports and Dunelm upgraded their earnings forecasts after each enjoyed a flurry of activity during the holiday shopping season.

Sainsbury’s, the second-largest supermarket chain in the U.K., said it expected to make at least 720 million pounds ($986 million) of underlying pre-tax profit in its current financial year, up from a previous forecast of 660 million pounds (nearly $904 million) from July.

Twig Raises $35M Series A Round to Fuel International Expansion

London-based FinTech Twig announced a $35 million round of financing on Tuesday (Jan. 11). The company said the investment will be used to boost its suite of financial products and expand in both the European Union and the U.S.

In addition, the funds will help the company accelerate its delivery of the Web 3.0 green payment infrastructure. Web 3.0 has been defined as a machine-readable web that promises more personalized service to users.

Checkout.com Raises $1B in Series D Funding

London-based FinTech startup Checkout.com raised $1 billion in a Series D funding round at a $40 billion valuation, 20 times more than the company was worth when it held its first fundraise in 2019, according to a press release on Wednesday (Jan. 12).

The infusion of capital will be used for U.S. growth, the rollout of new marketplace solutions and strengthening its leadership in Web 3.0.

Report: British Private Equity Firm CVC Joins Bain Capital in Joint Bid for Walgreens Boots Unit

Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners are forming a multibillion-pound joint bid for pharmaceutical giant Boots, according to multiple reports. Boots has more than 2,000 stores and more than 50,000 employees worldwide.

During the company’s first-quarter earnings call last week, Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer said the company is “applying a rigorous strategic lens to our equity investments, and exploring all options to unlock value.”

NVIDIA, Arm Tell UK Competition Watchdog Why It Should Approve Their Deal

Silicon Valley chip maker NVIDIA and United Kingdom chip designer Arm are fighting back as the U.K.’s competition regulator considers blocking the proposed $40 billion deal to buy Arm from tech conglomerate SoftBank.

In response to the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the companies outlined why the deal should be approved in a 28-page document.

SMB Travel Platform TravelPerk Raises $115M

TravelPerk, a European travel management company, has raised $115 million in a new funding round, bringing the value of the startup to $1.3 billion. The firm said it has raised $409 million to date.

The Barcelona- and London-based company said it will use the funding to expand its small- to medium-sized business (SMB) focused offering as corporate travel resumes, according to its blog post.

Russia’s TCS Acquires Swiss Crypto Startup Aximetria

TCS Group Holding now owns a majority share in Swiss-based cryptocurrency startup Aximetria, according to a CoinDesk report Wednesday (Jan. 12), after it bought the shares from Aximetria’s first investor, venture capital fund Digital Horizon.

An Aximetria spokesperson declined to disclose the size of acquisition, but a filing with the Swiss regulator shows TCS owned 4,449 shares of Aximetria, each worth 100 Swiss francs ($108).

Aximetria’s entire share capital is 534,700 francs ($582,000), meaning TCS owns about 82% of Aximetria, according to Russian online publication The Bell.