Israel's ACE chain of retail do-it-yourself home products has filed a prospectus for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). Market sources expect the offering to take place in the coming weeks with the retail outlet seeking to raise NIS 150 million at a company valuation of NIS 400 million, before money. This would be more than double the amount that the Kedma Fund bought control of the chain for in 2016.
The offering will take place using the book building method and will include the sale of some equity, of an estimated several tens of millions of shekels by ACE's current owners the Kedma Fund. The IPO is being led by Barak Capital. ACE's chairman is Uri Einan from the Kedma Fund and its CEO is Itzik Ozana, who holds a 2% stake in the company, and managed the company before it was acquired by Kedma in 2016.
In the first nine months of 2020, the Covid-19 crisis boosted the retail DIY and home improvement chain's revenue by 10% to NIS 470 million while net profit tripled to NIS 22 million.
The Kedma Fund acquired controlling interest in ACE at the end of 2016 from Electra Consumer Products Ltd. (TASE: ESP) for NIS 145 million, at a company valuation NIS 190 million including debt. In 2017, Kedma tried to hold an IPO for ACE at a company valuation of NIS 300 million, before money, but withdrew its plans after negative feedback from investors.
ACE has 34 stores around Israel with 53,000 square meters of commercial space as well as three online ecommerce domains. The company has 1,000 employees and also has a furniture factory in Ashdod. The stores, including its Auto Depot subsidiary for vehicle accessories sell home furnishings with an emphasis on DIY products as well as gardening and camping goods, electronic goods, textiles, carpets and rugs, flooring, plumbing, bathroom and sanitary products, heating and air-conditioning products, and more.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 3, 2021
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