LONDON: Poundland, Europe’s largest single-price discount retailer, plans a £750m ($1.25bn) flotation on the London Stock Exchange, cashing in on the recession-proof allure of goods that sell for just £1 ($1.67).
The 500-store Poundland chain, which sells more than 3,000 products, including about 1,000 branded goods from firms such as Cadbury, Heinz, Coca-Cola and Kodak, said yesterday it would list its shares in March.
British discount retailers bought up properties left vacant in the economic downturn by failed store groups such as Woolworths and have outperformed the market as consumers tightened their belts in the face of flat wages and rising inflation.
Though the UK economy is slowly improving, the habit of thrift has stuck, and Poundland says nearly a quarter of its 4.5 million weekly customers now come from the more affluent “AB” demographic.
“We’re very good in austere times, but we’re even better in good times,” said Poundland Chief Executive Jim McCarthy, highlighting a track record of profit growth and aggressive store opening plans for both the UK and overseas.
According to consultancy PwC, the UK value general merchandise retail sector was worth £5.2bn in 2012. Poundland, the first British discount retailer to seek a public listing, was founded in 1990 at Burton-upon-Trent, central England, by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith. Private equity firm Advent International bought the firm for £50m in 2002 and sold it on to Warburg Pincus for £200m in 2010.
Poundland’s share offer will comprise a partial sale to institutional investors of Warburg Pincus’s 76 percent stake, as well as a partial sale of the balance held by 155 Poundland employees, including McCarthy, a former Sainsbury’s executive and 30-year veteran of the UK retail sector. The free float will be at least 25 percent of Poundland’s equity.
The firm, which will not be issuing any new shares to investors in the offer, would seek a valuation of £700-750m, a person familiar with the matter said.
The listing of Poundland is one of many expected in Britain’s retail sector in 2014. Russian hypermarket chain Lenta, newsagent and convenience store McColl’s and online domestic appliances retailer AO have all said in recent weeks that they plan to float.
Pets at Home, Fat Face, House of Fraser, Boohoo.com and B&M are also expected to come to market later this year.Reuters
