Moonpig successfully completes their IPO

Moonpig the online greeting card business soared above its £1.2billion IPO value on its first day of trading, conditional trading opened around 30% higher at £4.40 compared to the IPO price of £3.50.   This is a real success story and follows on from the positive trading in Dr Martens the bookmaker which also joined the market last week.

In today's podcast Adrian Lawrence our in house financial expert talks about how the company is now likely to join the FTSE 250 and that it is likely to see increased competition as more and more traditional retailers are moving online and raising their game to offset the decline in high street sales particularly following the recent lockdowns.

Moonpig Group plc can be found in our database here.

According to founder Nick Jenkins, "Moonpig" was his nickname at school in Newport, Shropshire, hence the name of the brand.

Visitors to the website can choose from a large selection of card designs and enter their own text and photos to personalise them. Visitors can also personalise a number of gifts.

The original launch of Moonpig in 2000 coincided with the collapse of the dot-com bubble, which made progress difficult at first, but Jenkins raised further investment from private investors and venture capital, and the advent of broadband and digital cameras together with news spreading by word-of-mouth meant sales steadily increased, with the first profits being made in 2005. A television advertising campaign began in the United Kingdom in November 2006. 2 years and 4 months later, Moonpig received more internet traffic than other flower and gift companies in the UK.By summer 2009, the company had sold cards to 2.57 million customers and its profit record was seen by The Times as "a typical curve for a successful start-up — a big, £1 million loss establishing it in its first year, negligible losses edging into negligible earnings over the next six years, and thereafter a seven-figure profit"

The company was initially based in Chelsea, but is now based in Farringdon, with their cards being printed in Guernsey. The business expanded into the Australian market in 2004 and, in late 2009, the business expanded its offering to include a range of flowers and custom mug designs. In spring 2010, Moonpig launched in the United States.

In July 2011, Moonpig was bought by Photobox Group, which also owns Photobox, for £120m in a cash and shares transaction. Photobox has subsequently been sold to a private equity firm Exponent Private Equity.

In 2019 Moonpig separated from Photobox Group. Moonpig Group was formed which encompasses Moonpig and Dutch equivalent Greetz.

On 2nd February 2021 Moonpig Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange, their market capitalisation at the end of the first day of trading was over £1.2billion. Exponent sold shares as part of the listing, cutting their stake from 41pc to 27pc

Listen to our podcast on Moonpig's IPO here
[powerpress]