Member Article

Smiles all round as Boohoo prepares to float

Manchester-based online fashion retailer Boohoo.com claims it will have a market capitalisation of £560m when it floats its shares.

The company - which sells clothes aimed at the 16-to-24 age range - said it had raised £300m from investors ahead of the flotation, placing 600 million shares at 50 pence. About 55 per cent of the enlarged issued share capital will be freely tradable post flotation.

Boohoo.com was founded in 2006 and now claims more than 2.3 million active customers.

In the 10 months to December 2013, sales increased by 70% to £91.9m, with just over a third of sales being made outside the UK.

The company has raised £300m by selling 600 million shares at 50p each. Of the money raised, £240m is going to existing shareholders, with some of the remaining cash being used to upgrade its warehouse in Burnley.

Boohoo.com is floating its shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, with trading due to begin on 14 March.

Following the flotation, the founding Kamani family and other board members will retain a 44% stake in the company.

Boohoo is one of a number of companies looking to enter the London stock market, with Cheshire-based Pets at Home also due to float shares in the near future.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .