The Bulgarian Shelly Group will transform into a European Company

Shelley Group (formerly known as Allterco), the Bulgarian producer of IoT and smart home solutions, wants to transform itself into a European Company (SE). However, the plan is that its headquarters will remain in Bulgaria, as becomes clear from a corporate notification to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE).

This is another step for the manufacturer, known for its MyKi smartwatches and Shelly products, to establish itself as a global player in an extremely promising market worth about USD 1 trillion.

The proposal to change its legal status will be voted on by the shareholders at a special general meeting. They will also decide on changes in the personnel composition of the Board of Directors, with the current chairman Gregor Bieler expected to be replaced by Christoph Vilanek.

The change in the legal status of the company is expected to take effect on 1 January 2024.

What are the advantages of European Company status?

A European Company (also called Societas Europea or SE) is a type of public joint-stock company that enables you to do business in different European countries based on a single set of rules, as explained by the European Commission on its website.

The minimum requirement for registered capital is EUR 120,000.

The establishment of a European Company leads to the following advantages:

·        It gets easier to do business in more than one EU country. That way, the company can reorganize its activities within a single European brand name and manage its business without creating a network of subsidiaries.

·        Greater mobility in the single market. Companies are given the opportunity to transfer their headquarters to another EU country without having to dissolve the company first.

·        Set framework for the participation of personnel who work in more than one country in the management of the enterprise. AS per Bulgarian legislation, this implies having a staff of more than 50 employees.

·        The owners of a European Company can create one or more subsidiaries that are also European companies. Deciding to set up this type of company depends on the cross-border activity within the European Economic Area. There is an assumption for the management of large-volume activities and capital.

Up until now, this legal corporate status has not been particularly popular in Bulgaria.

Shelly Group's European quest

Shelley Group's turnaround began in 2021 when the company – then still known as Allterco - sold its operations in Asia for over EUR 2 million.

A few months later, in November of the same year, the enterprise became the first Bulgarian company directly admitted to a foreign stock exchange (Editor’s note - the company went public in 2016 when it was listed on the BSE). It made a splash at its debut in Frankfurt, which hosts the largest financial market in Europe.

In the past year, Shelly Group shares increased in value by 148.5%, and the company’s market capitalization managed to exceed EUR 375.5 million. At the moment of writing, the company's valuation on the BSE reaches BGN 750.9 million at a share price of just over BGN 40. The same parameter at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is 384.47 million euros, at a share price of 21.30 euros, according to a report by Economic.bg. Revenues for the first nine months of 2023 grew by 49.4% compared to the same period in 2022, according to the latest financial results.

Late this spring, the company officially rebranded from Allterco to Shelly Group, a move that underscores its focus on the flagship Shelly-branded products. The name change also emphasizes the development of the Group's business model in its corporate identity.

The actions taken in recent years show the company's ambitions for international expansion.

The IoT market

The Internet of Things market is expected to see significant revenue growth to reach a staggering USD 1.17 trillion in 2023 worldwide, according to Statista forecasts. In addition, an annual growth rate of 13.60% is expected for the 2023-2028 period, which will lead to a remarkable market volume of USD 2.227 trillion in five years.