Rocket Internet hikes capital after investment spree

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[February 13, 2015]  By Eric Auchard

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Ecommerce investor Rocket Internet, which held its initial public offering just four months ago, completed a quick-turnaround capital increase on Friday to help fund its global investment spree, raising around 588.5 million euros ($673 mln).

The Berlin-based company said it placed 12.01 million shares at 49 euros each in order to allow it to pursue its strategic goals. Rocket has burned through around 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) of the 1.4 billion-euro raised via its IPO in October.

The total proceeds were calculated before any deductions for commissions and expenses.

Shares of the Berlin-based company fell 7.8 percent in early trading to 49.50. The 12 million new shares, which will begin trading on 17 February, represented a 7.8 percent increase in the company's capital base.

At current levels, the stock is trading 16 percent higher than its initial floatation price of 42.50.

Over the past week alone, Rocket has announced around a dozen separate investments in online food and groceries businesses in markets worldwide as part of a plan to assemble the largest online takeout food delivery network outside China.

Among the biggest transactions were a new, 30-percent stake in former rival Delivery Hero, for which Rocket paid 496 million euros, and an additional 130 million euros paid to raise its stake in groceries firm HelloFresh to 52 percent.

On Wednesday, Rocket said it was acquiring another food takeway delivery firm, Kuwait-based Talabat, for around 150 million euros.

While Berlin-based Rocket sees itself as building an e-commerce operating empire, some investors prize it as a launchpad for future stock market listings of everything from online fashion to home furnishings to personal finance firms.

(Reporting By Eric Auchard; editing by Thomas Atkins)

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