Ibex sells 6.3% of Pepco's outstanding shares at 44.00 zlotys apiece

Key Facts

Ibex sold about 32.3 million ordinary shares in Pepco Group, according to a company disclosure dated 21 October 2026, in a move aimed at gradually expanding and improving liquidity in its shares. The offering was priced at 44.00 Polish zlotys per share, under terms announced by the group for the reduction in its main shareholder's stake. The shares sold represent about 6.3% of Pepco's outstanding shares, the proportion reflected by the offering size on that basis. The shares were sold to institutional investors, according to the group's disclosure on the change in Ibex's ownership. Ibex said the transaction aimed to "improve trading liquidity" as part of a gradual expansion of liquidity in the company's shares.

Following the offering, Ibex's stake in outstanding shares and voting rights fell to 59.8% from 66.1% before the sale, according to Pepco's statement. The main shareholder thus retained a majority of outstanding shares and voting rights despite reducing its stake through the transaction. On the basis of total issued share capital, its stake fell to 52.8% from 58.3% before the offering, according to the same disclosure. Issued share capital includes treasury shares, while the outstanding share base used to calculate the proportion of shares sold excludes them. Ibex's remaining shares are subject to a 90-day lock-up following the offering, with the customary exceptions set out in the transaction terms.

Pepco said it "received no proceeds" from the secondary sale, carried out by its shareholder using shares it owns in the group. Ibex previously conducted another offering in January 2026 involving about 49 million shares, according to Pepco's disclosure on its participation in that transaction. The group bought about 7.6 million of its own shares in the earlier offering, itself purchasing part of the block offered for sale by the shareholder. Pepco's participation in the January transaction amounted to 50 million euros, according to the company's announcement on the buyback at the time. The earlier offering was larger than the one announced in October and involved the group using funds to repurchase shares as part of Ibex's stake reduction.

The sale follows an acceleration in Pepco's like-for-like revenue growth during the final quarter through 20 September 2026, according to its pre-close trading update. Growth reached 9.5% excluding fast-moving consumer goods, compared with 5.4% in the preceding quarter on the same measure, according to figures announced by the group. The company attributed part of the improvement in sales during the final quarter to the planned clearance of prior-season inventory, among the factors supporting performance in the period. It said clearing that inventory also helped improve stock freshness, alongside its contribution to sales growth during the quarter. The improvement was reported in the company's September update, before the main shareholder announced its latest partial stake sale in October.

In the same trading update, Pepco raised its forecast for underlying net profit growth for the financial year ended September 2026 to more than 60%. Its previous guidance had pointed to growth exceeding 50%, before the forecast for the same financial year was revised higher. The new guidance relates to underlying net profit, according to the measure used by the group in its pre-close update. The board also announced its approval of a new multi-year Pepco share buyback programme worth up to 400 million euros. The amount represents the maximum size of the programme announced by the company in September, which it intends to implement over several years, according to the trading update.

Ibex's offering is expected to settle on 23 October 2026, according to the timetable in Pepco's transaction disclosure. In a separate action relating to its shares, the group began proceedings to cancel 51,153,590 treasury shares, according to the September trading update. The company expects to complete the cancellation around 13 November 2026, subject to the expiry of the creditor opposition period required under Dutch law. That approximate completion date remains conditional on the expiry of that period, according to the terms Pepco set out when announcing the start of the cancellation proceedings. The group is scheduled to publish its preliminary annual results on 9 December 2026, the next announced date for presenting its financial-year results.