Ashurst advises the underwriters on the successful IPO of Mister Spex SE
23 August 2021
July 2 was the first trading day of Mister Spex's shares (ticker symbol 'MRX') on the Prime Standard segment of the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The IPO comprised around 15 million shares in total for a placement price of €25.00, including c. 9.8 million new shares from capital increase, c. 3.3 million existing shares from the holdings of certain existing shareholders and c. 2.0 million shares to cover over-allotments, resulting in a total offer volume of €375 million (based on full exercise of the greenshoe option), indicating a market capitalization of about €829 million. Gross proceeds to the company from the sale of all the new shares amount to c. €245 million. The company intends to use these proceeds primarily to accelerate its growth strategy, the international expansion of Mister Spex's omnichannel business model, and for the repayment of a term loan.
Mister Spex, founded in 2007, is a multi-award-winning company that has become the leading digitally native omnichannel optician in Europe. Mister Spex has been at the forefront of the industry's transformational shift, growing from pure online player into a successful omnichannel optician with more than five million customers, 10 online shops across Europe and physical retail stores. The focus of Mister Spex is to make eyewear purchase for customers an easy, transparent and fun shopping experience by combining a comprehensive and varied range of high-quality products with optician expertise and services through its customer service, own stores and an extensive network of partner opticians.
The Ashurst team was led by partner Matthias von Oppen. He was assisted by senior associate Dr. Valentin Pfisterer (both Corporate Transactions, Frankfurt) and partner Jeffrey Johnson (US securities law, London). The further transaction team comprised partner Dr. Gerrit Clasen, transaction counsel Melissa Bach and associates Quynh Anh Le and Jeffrey Miller (all Corporate Transactions). Partner Anne Grewlich led the Ashurst team focusing on the bridge loan. She was assisted by counsel Sabrina Bremer and Gabrielle Metherall (all Finance, all Frankfurt).
