Hepsiburada valued at $4.38 bln in strong Nasdaq debut

Shares of D-Market Electronic Services and Trading, also known as Hepsiburada, rose nearly 12 percent in their U.S. stock market debut on Thursday, giving the Turkish e-commerce platform a market value of $4.38 billion.

Hepsiburada's American Depositary Shares (ADS) opened at $12.75 and closed the day at $13.43, above their initial public offering (IPO) price of $12 per ADS. Hepsiburada, the first Turkish company listed on the Nasdaq exchange, sold 56.7 million ADS earlier in the day to raise more than $680 million, with existing shareholders putting up a little over 15 million of the shares on offer. Founded in 2000, Hepsiburada operates online platforms on which consumers can order items ranging from groceries and essentials to airline tickets.

The company launched its marketplace in 2015 and has an in-house logistics network, touting that 64 percent of its orders are delivered the next-day. With 9 million active customers, Hepsiburada's revenue and gross merchandise value, which refers to the total value of products sold, more than doubled in 2020 compared with a year earlier, a regulatory filing showed. "Turkish e-commerce is at an inflection point and we have ambitious plans to continue leading digitalization of commerce. Our story resonated with international investors," Hepsiburada's founder and Chairwoman Hanzade Doğan Boyner told Reuters.

The company plans to use the proceeds to invest in logistic infrastructure as well as expand in new initiatives including grocery delivery and digital payment services. Its gross merchandise value, a benchmark of trade on its marketplace, rocketed 89 percent to 17 billion Turkish Liras ($1.96 billion) last year.

The Doğan family holds 65.4 percent and Franklin Templeton's stake was reduced to...