There’s a Norwegian company called AutoStore that’s about to be listed. It’s a company investing in warehouse automation/robotics systems. The subscription period ends tomorrow at 00:59. They seem to have ambitious goals. Whether they’ll be realized is another matter. It looks quite interesting. Does anyone have deeper knowledge/thoughts on this? Below is a summary of the topic:
https://www.nordnet.fi/download/18.75d5a01b17818ce217577300/1633948720162/Autostore-tiivistelma.pdf
I marked 2000 pieces myself, because it looked promising.
Let’s see what happens… There were very few discussions going on in Finnish forums.
So far, I’ve worked in two companies where logistics operations were outsourced, and warehousing automation and production lines were introduced. In both cases, there were co-determination negotiations (YT) and people were laid off. I’ve done warehouse work in six companies, and it seems that these efficiency measures in logistics have started to accelerate. Companies calculate certain amortization periods for investments, and at least one company’s logistics automation investment (German equipment) cost 500 million euros, so these are big investments if they can be sold. It’s a shame I only noticed the IPO now and can’t participate, but I’ll follow the discussion.
The Offering, including 15% Additional Shares (as defined in the Announcements),
is multiple times covered at the Indicative Offer Price.
I marked the minimum amount. It’s not a big drop. Therein lies the eternal dilemma that if it succeeds, I’ll even be a little annoyed that I marked so little. Of course, I can always buy more later
Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 10:45 AM Average Joe from Osakesijoittaminen inderes@discoursemail.com wrote:
I also marked a minimum of 390 units, let’s see what comes of it, or if anything comes of it.
I also wondered why this wasn’t talked about much on Finnish forums.
And not just on Finnish forums. I tried to find views on this in advance via Twitter and googled a lot, but there was very little information. The price was considered high, but that didn’t stop me from subscribing.
So that it’s not a 0 post, quoting from yesterday’s announcement:
“As previously announced, the bookbuilding period for the institutional offering will close tomorrow (19 October 2021) at 14:00 hours (CEST). The application period for the retail offering will end the same day at 12:00 hours (CEST), provided however that applications in the retail offering made electronically through the webservices of Nordnet must be submitted no later than by 23:59 hours (CEST) today, 18 October 2021.”
So, for us, local time, the institutional offering closes at 3:00 PM.
“The final number of Offer Shares and the final Offer Price per Offer Share will be set by the Company and the Lead Selling Shareholders (being the funds/companies owned, managed or advised by THL), in consultation with the Joint Global Coordinators, after completion of the bookbuilding period in the institutional offering.”
Trading was previously announced to start “on or about 20 October”, so allocation should be clear today, and trading will begin tomorrow unless there are unexpected delays.
It’s advisable to prepare for the possibility that, regardless of the subscription amount, you will receive either a) a fixed number, like 50 or 100 shares, or b) zero.
In this (too) Scandinavian listing, the prospectus included a typical condition for Swedes and Norwegians: that the issuer reserves the right to exclude some subscribers through a lottery to ensure that shareholders receive a reasonable number of shares. At least Finns are not discriminated against from the outset, as the offer terms state “No Offer Shares have been reserved for any specific national market.”
EDIT. Just now, on October 19, 2021, at 1:00 PM, “SØKNAD AUTOSTORE HOLDINGS LTD” appeared in my book-entry account. So at least the subscription was successful. To avoid multiple messages on the topic: often you won’t know if you got the shares until just before trading, i.e., tomorrow. Some Swedes have been left empty-handed, and that’s only visible just before trading begins.
Fives announces strategic partnership with AutoStore and strengthens its position as an integrator of cutting-edge automated solutions Well-timed this 
Today, your AOT (Account Overview Tool) shows an amount corresponding to your subscription commitment, and the final allocation will only be determined later. This is how it has gone in other offerings as well.
Did you read the message sent by Nordnet on the subject?
We have received your subscription order and forwarded it to the party responsible for the IPO. You can now see your submitted subscription recorded in your portfolio. The number of units corresponds to your approved subscription order. Upon allocation, we will debit the subscription fee from your account and deliver the allocated securities to your portfolio. From the terms of the new issue, you will find information on the estimated timing of the allocation announcement and the estimated first trading day of the securities.
Yeah, I read that Nordnet message. I interpreted “the number of shares corresponds to your approved subscription order” to mean that it’s the final amount. But it doesn’t seem to mean that after all… Thanks for the correction! I hope there’s been enough interest and not all subscribed shares are allocated. At least from the perspective of a quick profit hunter.
Same here, let’s see what happens… but indeed, there’s very little discussion on the topic. This is also a rather significant disruptive product. I understand that it also owns patents central to its operations; does anyone have more information on this?
AutoStore has recently invested significantly in research and development. The company’s development resources have increased from 49 employees in 2017 to 149 employees, of whom 72% are full-time software developers (as of June 30, 2021). AutoStore continuously strives to innovate and improve its existing solutions and software. AutoStore’s research and development activities over the past 25 years have strengthened the company’s competitive advantages and led to over 280 patents.
This is a quote from AutoStore’s IPO prospectus.
Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 3:15 PM Rivero from Osakesijoittaminen inderes@discoursemail.com wrote:
This IPO was interesting, so I also took the minimum, even though I probably won’t get much. Trading should start tomorrow.
Below is a short but concise introduction video from several years ago (newer ones can be found on YouTube).
A very interesting company, so it will be exciting to see how its stock market journey begins. A quick glance/consideration reveals that the amount of competition in the industry is concerning. To my eye, for example, the technology of the British Ocado Group (mcap approx. 13.5 billion GBX) largely follows the same idea as Autostore (if you’re interested in researching others, Vanderlande and TGW were mentioned as competitors in the prospectus). The question is how quickly strong EBITDA margins will erode if the technology is copied and price competition intensifies.
As I understand it, Ocado was a client of Autostore, stole the technology, and became a competitor. https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2021/06/17/ocado-loses-major-court-battle-against-rival-autostore-as-patent-infringement-case-heats-up/
There is indeed competition in the field; as far as I know, AutoStore’s solution is not unique. However, I would say that AutoStore has already established itself as a strong brand in the industry. These solutions are currently popping up like mushrooms after rain and are held in very high regard. There are already warehouses in Finland using AutoStore, and more are constantly being added. The investment is reasonable compared to fully automated warehouses, the solution is relatively flexible, and the benefits are significant.
I don’t own shares at the moment; the valuation felt high. The component shortage likely affects the delivery times for these systems right now. I do believe the future is bright.
This also applies to this company.
Allocation done. The announcement regarding the outcome can be found here:
“A total of 667,567,059 shares (including over-allotted shares) were allotted in the Offering, with 99% of the shares allotted to investors in the institutional offering and 1% of the shares allotted to approximately 10,000 investors in the Nordic retail offering”
If this message is not flagged, messages not belonging to this thread stated that by subscribing to the minimum (390 shares), one received 339 shares, which is 87%.
However, if one subscribed to more, here are 2 examples: a subscription of 1600 shares yielded 374 shares (23.4%), and a subscription of 9500 shares yielded 603 shares (6.35%), meaning the cut-off was significant if one was aiming for a larger amount.
All the examples mentioned follow the formula 339 + (marked amount - 390) * 2.9%.
I’m adding this to this forum as well.
AutoStore has emerged as the latest interesting company; I didn’t get to mark it, but the plan is to figure out if I should take a stake. Can anyone elaborate on how 2021 has gone? It seems that in recent years, revenue has been rising impressively, and profits have been made. There were COVID-losses in 2020, but has there been a recovery in 2021?
I’ve tried to read the financial section of the Prospectus document and I pretty much understand the business, but I haven’t quite grasped it yet.