GOVECS AG
Leading e-scooter pioneer GOVECS prepares for initial public offering
DGAP-News: GOVECS AG / Key word(s): IPO NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Munich, 31 August 2018 – GOVECS AG (“GOVECS”, “the Company”), the leading manufacturer of electric scooters in Europe, plans to conduct an IPO on the regulated market (Prime Standard) of the Frankfurt Securities Exchange in autumn 2018. With the proceeds, the Company plans in particular to expand its production, product range and distribution networks to make use of the excellent growth opportunities in the Business-to-Business (B2B) target markets, the e-scooter sharing and the delivery industry. GOVECS also plans to position itself much more strongly in the private customer business (B2C). With its top-quality e-scooters, GOVECS contributes to the trend towards a much better and more environmentally friendly form of mobility. Increased urbanisation, stricter CO2 standards, increased environmental awareness of consumers and the trend towards e-mobility are an important tailwind for growth of the e-scooter market in Europe, which is still in its infancy. Experts expect annual growth rates for the European e-scooter market of over 25% until 2026. Demand for this new form of mobility has grown very rapidly, especially in recent months. According to the magazine Visordown, registrations of e-scooters were up by 51% in the first quarter of 2018 alone. E-scooter sharing providers in particular are constantly expanding their presence and fleets. Today a total of more than 10,000 GOVECS e-scooters already contribute to better air quality and less congestion and noise in urban environments. The Company is a pioneer in its industry and already has an outstanding market position today: Three out of four of the biggest e-scooter sharing providers in Europe use GOVECS e-scooters in their fleets. With 40% (global) and 60% (European) market share, GOVECS is the clear market leader in this field and plans to continue its course of expansion in the future. “Electric scooters are an essential element of future mobility solutions in our metropolitan cities. The development of the e-scooter market is still in its infancy and holds huge opportunities in store for GOVECS. We want to extend our leading market position as European producer. The IPO will help us to accelerate our planned growth and to upscale to a new level,” says Thomas Grübel, CEO and co-founder of GOVECS. In 2017, GOVECS more than doubled its revenue, to approx. EUR 15 million. Based on current business development and the strong order book, the Company expects its revenue for the current year to grow to EUR 24-28 million. GOVECS produces in its own plant in Breslau, Poland, with a current production capacity of up to 15,000 e-scooters per annum. The e-scooter producer covers the most essential parts of the value chain – from product development and system integration all the way to direct distribution and after-market services. In recent years GOVECS has acquired extensive expertise in the fields of technology, engineering and design of e-scooters. Thus, the Company is a technology pioneer and stands out from a large number of competitors who import complete e-scooters from Chinese manufacturers and then sell them under their own label in Europe.
Thomas Grübel explains: “Our range of top-quality ‘made in Europe’ e-scooters has enabled us to position ourselves as a premium provider offering the highest quality standards. We have already developed three different e-scooter models that meet the high requirements of our customers and plan to continuously extend our product portfolio.” The primary focus of GOVECS’ business is currently on the sale of e-scooters to sharing providers. To be able to operate efficiently, when extending their fleets, sharing providers increasingly rely on electric scooters from the premium segment as these are characterized by high resilience, reliability and longevity – and because they also manage to meet the providers’ range expectations. GOVECS benefits from the demanding customer requirements in its “B2S” (Business-to-Sharing) business segment. Its current customer portfolio includes nearly all major European operators of scooter sharing schemes, e.g. Cityscoot in France, eCooltra in Spain and Portugal, emmy in Germany and Felyx in the Netherlands. The second business segment comprises the sale and leasing of electric scooters to food and grocery delivery services, including Delivery Hero, Deliveroo or Takeaway.com and the constantly growing number of restaurants that offer their own delivery service, such as Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza or Burger King. As the food delivery market is growing in leaps and bounds due to the sharp increase in order volumes via online marketplaces, GOVECS likewise has attractive growth prospects in this “B2D” (Business-to-Delivery) business segment. In addition, other end markets, such as postal and parcel services or delivery services for consumer goods, offer substantial potential for GOVECS’ e-scooter business. In its third and latest business segment, namely “B2C” (Business-to-Consumer), GOVECS is now positioning itself in the fast-growing end customer market. Apart from the present megatrends, this business segment is also being addressed with the emotional lifestyle . The “Schwalbe” (German for the bird swallow) – a premium product as a relaunch of the old GDR cult classic – currently is the Company’s most prominent flagship product. Moreover, in June 2018 GOVECS acquired the assets of the established ELMOTO brand, already expanding its product portfolio for private customers. This strategy will be continued in 2019 with the introduction of electric scooters of the Elly brand, a starter model in the medium price segment. GOVECS scooters are sold directly to end customers via the Company’s own HappyScooter eCommerce platform. In addition, alongside its existing HappyScooter stores in Berlin and Stuttgart, the Company plans to open further touchpoints in Germany and in other European metropolises.
GOVECS was founded in 2009 and converted into a German public limited company in August 2018. The Company’s largest shareholders are the family office DQuadrat Equity Partner as well as the Management of GOVECS. The Company plans to launch an IPO as early as autumn of this year on the regulated market (Prime Standard segment) of the Frankfurt Securities Exchange. The majority of the public offering will consist of new shares issued as part of a capital increase. GOVECS plans to invest the proceeds particularly in the extension of production capacities in Poland and the continuous development of its existing product and service portfolio. Furthermore, strategic initiatives in the Business-to-Delivery (B2D) and Business-to-Customer (B2C) business segments are intended to foster the further expansion of these fields of activity. Bankhaus Lampe and COMMERZBANK are acting as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners. About GOVECS: The GOVECS Group is the leading manufacturer of electric scooters in Europe and is developing future-oriented solutions for urban mobility. The Company’s success is based on high-quality “Made in Europe” products for international vehicle sharing platforms and on custom-made designs for the rapidly growing merchandise delivery segment. GOVECS is selling electric scooters and accessories to the high-growth private customer segment via its own HappyScooter e-commerce platform. The GOVECS product range currently includes the e-scooters of the Schwalbe, GO! S, ELMOTO and GO! T brands.
Kirchhoff Consult AG, Nicole Schüttforth, nicole.schuettforth@kirchhoff.de, +49 40 60 91 86 64 GOVECS AG, Daniele Cesca, dcesca@govecs.com, +49 89 411 09 77 15
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31.08.2018 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP – a service of EQS Group AG. |