Polish debt collecting company GetBack has set the price of its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) at PLN18.5 (€4.4) per share, the company said on July 5.

With 40mn shares on offer, the company’s offering is worth PLN740mn at the set price, which is markedly lower than the PLN27 per share maximum price, set earlier by GetBack. The company expects to debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) on July 17.

After a stagnant couple of years, investors seem to have regained interest in the Warsaw bourse. Share trading on the WSE's main equities market totalled PLN30.3bn (€7.1bn) in June, marking a jump of 80.2% y/y, the exchange said on July 5. June proved the eighth consecutive month in which equity trading recorded impressive growth. Trading expanded 65.7% y/y in May.

The Getback float will comprise of up to 20mn new shares and up to 20mn existing shares that will be offered to retail and institutional investors. Following the sign-up process for retail investors and book building for institutions, 3mn shares will be offered to the former, while the institutional investors will take 37mn shares.

GetBack will use the proceeds to finance growth, especially via acquisitions of debt portfolios in Poland and abroad, in the 9-12 months after the IPO. The company might also consider taking over other debt collectors. Should no takeover opportunities arise, GetBack will use the proceeds to increase its working capital and finance company operations.

On June 19, Play Communications, the owner of the second biggest Polish mobile operator P4, announced its plans for an IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Play will offer a “portion of the existing shares” under the float. The company did not specify the timing of the offering. Play hinted earlier this year, however, that it was mulling an IPO by the end of 2017, after Play's owners  – billionaires Icelander Thor Bjorgolfsson and Greek Panos Germanos – unsuccessfully sought an exit route in October.

It is planned that the float will consist of an offering to retail investors, authorised employees, and institutional investors in Poland, and an international offering, the company also said. Proceeds from the IPO will fund the redemption of 2022 payment-in-kind notes of the parent company and a distribution to its shareholders.

“Play benefits from consistently strong performance of the Polish economy and the increasing sophistication of our customer base’s use of data, so we believe we can offer investors an unrivalled combination of growth and returns in our sector,” the company’s CEO Jorgen Bang-Jensen said in a statement.