Parent company of Blokker will not go forward with IPO

Mirage Retail Group (MRG), among others the parent company of Blokker and Intertoys, is temporarily postponing its IPO due to the ongoing uncertainty created by the pandemic. The retail group said that the pandemic is causing "erratic market conditions" in retail, while the organization would benefit from stability.

"We close now at 5 p.m. every day. I don't know what else is coming," Blokker CEO Michiel Witteveen said. He preferred that all his people focus on getting through the coronavirus crisis and not entering the stock market. It would also not be possible to show investors how the performance is. The coronavirus measures are weighing on the company's results, Witteveen said.

Earlier this year, Witteveen called the stock exchange plans necessary for the company's future. Yet, he also indicated there would be disadvantages. Witteveen cannot say when MRG will go public. Although the wish to go public has not disappeared, MRG postponed the IPO for an "indefinite time."

MRG had been well into their preparations. The IPO should have taken place sometime next year. Witteveen would have become the supervisory board chairman on February 1 and current chairman of the supervisory board Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg would replace him as CEO. The management change will now be finalized later.

"That was decided together," Witteveen emphasized. According to him, the board change was purely prompted by the stock exchange plans. Directors of companies that go public must make promises to remain with their company for a certain period. Witteveen, almost 68-years-old, did not see himself as CEO for another four years.

MRG has multiple chains, including electronic chain BCC. Until recently, Big Bazar was also part of MRG, but it was announced that a new owner had been found for the budget store chain in October. In total, the group currently has 710 stores and 8,100 employees.