Small companies clamour to float as Eurocell and Lakehouse line up for London Stock Exchange IPOs
Two small companies this morning announced their intention to float on the London Stock Exchange, among the first few of a much-anticipated rush prior to the General Election in May.
Window and door maker Eurocell said it was seeking a listing on the London Stock Exchange. It had sales of £173m and operating profit of £20m in the 12 months to December.
"We have a clear strategy to drive future growth by maximising benefit from our vertically integrated model, continuing to roll out our branch network, driving greater cross-selling of our full range within these branches and converting our customer insight and in-house development capacity into new products," Patrick Bateman, chief executive at Eurocell, said.
"We believe that the successful listing of Eurocell will provide the ideal platform to take advantage of these exciting opportunities and to deliver value for our shareholders in the future."
Eurocell's owner private equity group H2 Equity Partners bought it from Belgium-based food and agriculture firm Tessenderlo two years ago.
Asset and energy support services group Lakehouse also announced its intention to float, having booked revenues of £345m in the year to September 30.
"We are delighted to be pursuing a potential listing on the main market and believe that this is the right time for the business to do so. Lakehouse has a strong financial and operational track record, strong client relationships and a focused strategy designed to exploit the growth opportunities in the market places in which we operate", Stuart Black, executive chairman said.
"The directors and senior management team, who have extensive experience and expertise in the support services and energy sectors, will be very much aligned to the interests of all stakeholders and the planned future success of the group," Mr Black said.
Companies are keen to take advantage of healthy investor appetite buoyed by a strong UK economy. They are also eager to list before the inevitable disruption from General Election in May.
Around 76 per cent of institutional investors expected the numbers of floats on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) to increase or remain unchanged this year, according to a survey by accountancy firm BDO.