Sandwich seller plans for £2bn summer float
UPPER Crust owner SSP is gearing up for a summertime stock market float after appointing bankers from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare the firm for a listing.
The business, led by former WH Smith chief executive Kate Swann, is understood to be on course for an initial public offering (IPO) to sell shares worth up to £500m in July after it reveals its half year results to investors in June. This would value the firm, which operates popular chains like Delice de France, Millie’s Cookies and Caffe Ritazza, at about £2bn.
SSP, which stands for Select Service Partners, was taken over by its private equity backers EQT in 2006. It employs about 30,000 people and had earnings of £152.7m last year.
SSP declined to comment last night while EQT did not respond to request for comment.
The move would mark a swift return to the public markets for Swann, who left WH Smith in July 2013 before taking up the role at SSP just two months later in September 2013.
She reported a solid set of full-year results for SSP last month, with annual like-for-like sales up 4.3 per cent on annual sales of £1.83bn versus £1.74bn a year earlier.
The firm has also been investing heavily ahead of a flotation, spending £78m last year to open 90 outlets across the world, as well as winning contracts at airports in Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, and Hainan in China.
A float would also be the second exit through an IPO by EQT this year, after it announced plans last week to sell its portfolio company ISS on the Copenhagen stock exchange.
The appointment of Goldman and Morgan Stanley builds on the bank’s busy schedule of advisory work this year, with Goldman working on IPOs of insurer Saga, Pets at Home, and ISS while Morgan Stanley is advising retailer Card Factory on its own flotation preparations.