Head of Biosphere Corporation allows for its listing on stock exchange in 5-7 years

Andriy Zdesenko, founder and CEO of one of the leading companies in the home goods market, Biosphere Corporation, aims to bring its valuation to $1 billion, including through ongoing international expansion, and allows for the possibility of listing Biosphere on the stock exchange in the next five-seven years.

"If we occupy a good market share, then thanks to Europe and other countries we can achieve this [valuation of $1 billion], considering that the EBITDA multiplier in the industry is at least 10," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

When asked about the possibility of Biosphere going public, including for further expansion, Zdesenko replied: "Yes, five to seven years. But it's still too early to just go public with $200 million."

According to him, in 2024 the corporation was able to restore its turnover, which had fallen due to the war, to $175 million, including due to rapid expansion in the European market. The head of Biosphere recalled that before full-scale Russian aggression, the turnover was under $300 million, but then it fell to $120 million.

Zdesenko pointed out that exports are also gradually recovering, but now their share is 20%, which is also still less than the pre-war figure.

He recalled that in 2022, Biosphere acquired the Austrian brand Alufix with four national representative offices and production in the Romanian city of Făgăraș, which allowed increasing the workload of Ukrainian production facilities, doubling turnover in 2024 in Europe – up to $15 million and planning to increase it to EUR 30 million next year.

The head of the corporation also noted that it maintains its focus on deep vertical integration, which makes it possible to offer competitive prices for both private labels and its own brands in Ukraine and abroad.

In particular, Biosphere can produce up to 1,000 tonnes of granules per month from waste, dirty film, which they can use to produce garbage bags. In addition, the corporation produces non-woven fabric, having launched a separate plant with an investment of $20 million three months before the war, and also has a joint plant with the French Groupe Lemoine in Estonia, where cotton fabric is produced, from which disks are made, and they also make a wick for use in cotton products.

Speaking about obstacles in development, Zdesenko pointed to the existing restrictions in financing international expansion, including due to the existing restrictions of the National Bank of Ukraine on cross-border investments.

Biosphere Corporation has been operating in Ukraine for over 25 years. Its product portfolio includes over 1,000 items under 16 of its own brands. The corporation is the official distributor of such international brands as TORK, Selpak and Fantom.