Polish toy seller Smyk's IPO to raise $107 million

GDANSK (Reuters) -Polish children's clothing and toy retailer Smyk expects to raise about 389 million zlotys ($107 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) for itself and its top shareholder, it said on Thursday.

Smyk, which apart from Poland has stores in Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia, said it will offer up to 13.6 million new shares, raising gross proceeds of up to 150 million zlotys.

Its sole shareholder, AMC V Gandalf, will offer up to 18.4 million shares.

GROWTH PLANS

Smyk has said it will use the proceeds to reduce debt and finance its growth strategy. It aims to expand its store network at a pace of about 15–20 stores per year, both in the short and medium term.

The priority for the company is to reinvest profits in business development for sustainable expansion, CEO Michal Grom said during a press conference on Thursday.

"Analysing merger opportunities is an option. We are not ruling it out, but it is not a key element of the story we are telling our investors today," he added.

If the offering goes through, it would be a third stock market debut in Warsaw this year, after medical diagnostics company Diagnostyka listed in February and protective clothing maker Arlen Group made its debut in June.

Smyk said that it expects to allocate between 10% and 15% of the offering to retail investors.

The final pricing is due to be announced on or around October 30 and the shares are expected to start trading on or around November 7.

($1 = 3.6365 zlotys)

(Reporting by Adrianna Ebert, editing by Anna Pruchnicka)