The capital attracted from capital market investors will be used to increase the company’s market share and for investments in technology and automation. Overall, the company has raised a total EUR10.45 million from the capital market, since March 2020, through two bond issues.
“We are glad that the Romanian capital market supports Vivre Deco’s growth plans, both in Romania and in other European countries where the company is active. Last year, in April 2020, Vivre Deco listed its first bond issue, in a period full of uncertainties. The listing of the second bond issue, almost double than the first one, shows the interest and trust that investors have in the company and the Vivre team and, at the same time, the company’s willingness to diversify its funding sources, successfully using the capital market financing mechanisms in this regard,” stated Radu Hanga, President of the Bucharest Stock Exchange President.
The bond listing comes after the company carried out a private placement of bonds in April 2021, raising EUR7 million needed for its development. The bond issue includes 14,000 bonds with a nominal value of EUR 500/bond and an interest rate of 5.5% per year, payable half-yearly, and maturing on April 21, 2026. During the private placement, 89 investors subscribed to the offer (four Romanian legal entities, 76 retail investors and four foreign retail investors).
“Being a public company, a status that we have obtained with the bonds listing, and the trust that investors have given us in the last two years determine us to grow in the coming years at an even faster pace, but sustainable. The future is about personalizing our customer experience, adapted to their needs, and technology is the main lever that will allow us to customize digital interactions indefinitely, without physical limitations. We want to gradually become the most important marketplace in the Home & Deco category in the region we belong to. This approach requires capital, effort, and significant resources at all levels, but we are ready to innovate and do everything in our power to achieve our goals,” said Monica Cadogan, Vivre Deco Co-founder and CEO.
The private placement and the bond listing were carried out with the support of TradeVille as Authorized Advisor.
“As of today, Bucharest Stock Exchange offers us a fresh decor with the listing of the latest Vivre Deco bonds. After another debut that happened the other day on our stock exchange, we could say that this week is dedicated to homes. Whether it is about housing construction or their decoration, investors on the Bucharest Stock Exchange now have an easy and diversified access to new tools for capturing the opportunities offered by either of these two areas,” said Ovidiu-George Dumitrescu, CFA, TradeVille Deputy CEO.
The first Vivre Deco bond issue, worth EUR3.45 million, is tradeable starting with April 10, 2020, under the ticker symbol VIV25E. The company does not rule out carrying out new financing operations through the capital market during the 2021-2025 period.
Vivre Deco was founded in 2012 in Romania, and in 2013, it began a process of regional expansion, being present in nine countries in 2019: Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Greece. Currently, Vivre is one of the main retailers of Home & Deco products in the markets in which it operates, the sales channel being exclusively online. According to the market analyzes performed by the issuer, Vivre is among the top five leading players on the main markets in which it operates, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia.
The company ended 2020 with a net turnover of RON295.2 million, 50% higher than RON196.8 million in 2019. According to the company, the increase was due both to higher demand from existing and new customers, and to a growing interest in online shopping in general. Its net profit increased from RON3 million in 2019 to RON7.4 million in 2020. The increase in profitability was due to scale economies and higher volumes. On the short and medium term, Vivre Deco aims to reinvest its net profit so as to increase its market share and improve the shopping experience of existing customers. The company’s management doesn’t estimate to pay dividends on the short and medium term.
At the end of 2020, the average number of employees on a group level (Vivre Deco and Technologies by Vivre) was 279. The company’s shareholders are Neogen SA with 50%, Advisory Delta with 45% and Nagy Vajda Andras Peter (Technical Director at Vivre) with 5%.