Poundland owner lines up advisors for stock market listing
The owner of Poundland is reportedly mulling a stock market listing that could value the discount retailer at about £3.4bn.
Steinhoff International Holdings, the owner of Poundland’s parent company Pepco Group, is expected to appoint advisors in the next few days to support plans for an initial public offering (IPO), Sky News reported.
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The high street chain could be listed in both London and Warsaw, sources close to the talks told the broadcaster, however a decision has not yet been made.
The company is also reportedly considering an outright sale of the business.
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan were hired to work on the plans for an IPO last year.
Poundland, which has roughly 850 stores in the UK and Ireland and operates under the Pepco brand in eastern Europe, was taken private by Steinhoff in 2016, in a transaction valued at more than £600m.
The South African holding company sold two of its other UK chains – Harveys and Bensons for Beds – to Alteri Investors following an accounting scandal that brought it to the brink of collapse.
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Poundland’s budget rival Poundworld collapsed into administration in June 2018, and eventually closed all of its stores after it was unable to find a buyer.