Cenkos set for bumper payday from AA flotation
A group of 10 institutional investors have been brought together by Cenkos, the mid-tier broker and investment house, to support an imminent flotation of AA, the road assistance specialist, in another giant new issue for the London market.
The deal, which could be announced as early as this week, City A.M. understands, would mark a significant coup for Cenkos, which is on course for a bumper fee.
Bankers said Cenkos could earn as much as £23m from the deal, which would dwarf the £12m fee earned by Rothschild on the flotation of AO World, the online electrical appliances group.
Earlier this year Cenkos announced pre-tax profits of £10.7m on a doubling of earnings.
Cenkos approached the owners of the AA earlier this year with the idea of putting in place a so-called club deal, which involves a number of significant shareholders committing to the deal at an early stage.
AA is owned by Acromas, the holding company that also owns Saga. The insurance-to-travel group is already heading for the stock market.
"Since the successful refinancing of the AA we have had a number of unsolicited approaches, including one from Cenkos. We are in the process of examining these," said AA-owner Acromas.
A successfully floated AA is said to be likely to gain admission to the FTSE 250