The stock market debut, planned for October 17, will see the main shareholders of Żabka selling a quarter of their shares in the fast-growing grocery chain.

Analysts calculate that the total value of the company is somewhere near €5 billion.

Zabka’s majority shareholder, venture capital firm CVC Capital Partners, will be selling 266 million shares in the grocer, but will retain a controlling stake. It purchased the company in 2017 for an estimated €1 billion.

Other shareholders, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Luxembourg-based PG Investment Company, and Amphibian, a company representing former and current managers of Żabka, will also be selling shares.

The IPO will be the biggest in Warsaw since the launch of Allegro, the online marketplace, in October 2020. Alongside Allegro and supermarket Dino, Żabka will be included in the WIG 20 index of the largest companies on the stock market.

Żabka, which was founded in the western city of Poznań in 1998, now has 10,500 franchised convenience stores throughout Poland. Over half of the population of Poland has a Żabka within 500 meters of their home.

The company, with the weight of Amsterdam-listed CVC behind it, has started investment in Hungary.

Żabka says it plans to grow by 1,000 stores a year in Poland and Hungary, up to a maximum of 19,500 stores in Poland and 4,000 in Hungary.

The final offer price for the IPO will be determined on October 9. In the initial period, the offer will be marketed to individual investors between October 2 and 9.

It is understood that CVC intends to reinvest the profits from the Żabka sale in Poland.