No signs of let up in London’s flotation flurry March 10, 2014 INVESTORS will intensify their love affair with the new issues market today as high street stalwarts Pets at Home and Poundland close the books on their multi-million pound London floats. Yesterday foreign exchange business Travelex became the latest UK firm to say it was exploring an initial public offering (IPO) while Israeli digital advertising firm Matomy [...]
Inside Track: Investors: How best to avoid being shut out on listings March 13, 2014 CITY folk often have long memories and until very recently there was an average chance that if a private equity group tried to bring a company to market it would be hit by a barrage of cynicism. The disappointing performance of several stocks in the noughties, including Debenhams, ensured that for a good while whenever [...]
Short sellers in dash to bet on Saga share price fall June 9, 2014 HEDGE funds are queuing up to bet on a further fall in the share price of newly-floated companies like Saga and AO World amid renewed scepticism in the new issues market, statistics show. Short sellers, who borrow shares from other investors to make gains when the price falls, currently have close to one per cent [...]
Bottom Line: Swann’s SSP could prosper in City’s search for quality June 16, 2014 THERE was a telling comment last week during a session held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain examining initial public offerings. “We’re going to go through a rather different period now,” EY’s Richard Hall, a veteran of last year’s bumper Royal Mail float, told an audience of private equity investors. “There are still some [...]
Shoe Zone putting its best foot forward with a £50m stock float April 28, 2014 DISCOUNT footwear chain Shoe Zone has become the latest retailer queuing up to float on the London Stock Exchange this year. The family-run chain, which runs 554 stores in the UK and Ireland, is looking to raise up to £50m in an initial public offering (IPO) on London’s Alternative Investment Market next month that is [...]
Discount retail firm B&M gets ready to float May 18, 2014 DISCOUNT retailer B&M is readying a stock market debut that values the firm at more than £2bn, in a move which could be announced as early as this week. The Liverpool-based company would follow discounting rival Poundland, which raised £375m on its entry into the London market back in March. B&M, which has grown from [...]
Just-Eat float will have no retail component March 17, 2014 City AM has learned that the float of fast food website Just-Eat will have no retail component. Retail investors will be able to go through brokers who've put in an institutional bid, but there'll be no direct access to the initial public offering (IPO). This mirrors Poundland's recent IPO, which also lacked a retail component. [...]
Boohoo bounces onto Aim as shares hit 85p March 14, 2014 It's the first day of trading for online fashion retailer Boohoo.com, and shared are surging. Making its debut on London's Aim, shares opened at 85p – well above the offer price of 50p. Shares are currently trading around 78p. The firm raised £300m through its initial public offering, and is the third UK retailer to [...]
Kent Reliance is back in £600m OneSavings IPO May 7, 2014 ONESAVINGS Bank is floating on the main London market, the private equity-backed lender said yesterday, with an expected value of £500m to £600m. Investor JC Flowers took a major stake in the Kent Reliance Building Society in a recapitalisation deal in 2010, restructuring and renaming the firm. It hopes OneSavings’ range of specialist lending brands, [...]
Boohoo.com shares hit new low despite 62 per cent leap in sales March 31, 2014 SHARES in Boohoo.com fell briefly below their offer price yesterday for the first time since their market debut, despite the online fashion retailer reporting a jump in full-year revenues. The Manchester-based company had its first day of trading on 14 March and saw shares open at 85p – well above the offer price of 50p. [...]