Deliveroo eyes £8.8bn valuation at London float

Deliveroo eyes £8.8bn valuation at London float

LONDON: British meal delivery app Deliveroo is aiming for a higher-than-expected valuation of up to £8.8 billion when it launches shortly on the London stock market, the company said yesterday following a pandemic-fuelled boom in demand. The Amazon-backed company, in line with other home-delivery firms, says it has seen demand soar in the past year as locked-down households called in food. The big listing, expected in April, is seen as a major boost to London's financial sector which has been hit by Brexit turmoil.

London's financial sector, known as the City, recently lost its European share trading crown to Amsterdam following Britain's exit from the European Union. Eight-year-old Deliveroo's market capitalization on listing is set to be between £7.6 billion and £8.8 billion ($10.5 billion-$12.2 billion, 8.9 billion euros-10.3 billion euros), it said in a statement yesterday. "We are proud to be listing in London, the city where Deliveroo started,“ company founder and CEO Will Shu said.

"Becoming a public company will enable us to continue to invest in innovation, developing new tech tools to support restaurants and grocers, providing riders with more work and extending choice for consumers,“ he added. The offer price range has been set at between £3.90 and