Markets

Goldman bought £75m worth of Deliveroo shares to prop up IPO price

Purchase equates to nearly quarter of value of shares traded in Deliveroo during first two days as public company

A Deliveroo riders bike near Victoria station last week in London, England. The food-delivery service’s market debut was off to a tough start as shares slid significantly from its initial public offering price of £3.90. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Wed Apr 7 2021 - 09:28

Goldman Sachs Group Inc bought £75 million (€87.2 million) worth of shares in food delivery group Deliveroo to prop up trading after an underwhelming market debut, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The purchase equates to nearly a quarter of the value of shares traded in Deliveroo during its first two days as a public company last week, the report said, citing Bloomberg data.

The share purchase by the bank, when taken together with the “overallotment” option, would mean the bank would have recorded a profit from the food delivery group’s declining share price, the report said, adding that most of these profits would be given to Deliveroo as part of an undisclosed agreement.

Deliveroo did not immediately return a Reuters request for comment, while Goldman declined to comment.

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The startup’s listing was the biggest in the UK in a decade, but its dismal debut dealt a blow to London’s hopes of attracting fast-growing technology companies. Shares in Deliveroo fell by as much as 30 per cent in their debut.

Hundreds of the company’s riders are expected to protest across the UK on Wednesday to lobby for better working conditions.– Reuters

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