Daisy Group is reported to be considering stock market float
Daisy Group, the telecoms company which went private two years ago, is reported to be considering a stock market comeback either this year or in early 2018.
According to The Sunday Times, the company is plotting a £1.4bn market return, after private equity firms Toscafund and Penta Capital taking Daisy Group out of public hands for £494m in 2015.
Daisy says it is Britain’s largest independent telecoms and business services company promotes itself as an alternative to BT and Virgin. Its customers include the retailer Specsavers and pubs chain and brewer Marston’s.
The Lancashire-based company paid £165m for rival Alternative Networks last year, leading to the company take on £20m in debt.
A consortium which included Daisy’s founder and executive chairman, Matthew Riley, Toscafund and Penta Capital, paid 185p at the time, representing a 14.7 per cent premium for the company’s closing share price on its last day of trading.
Riley left school at 16, setting up the company after selling a recruitment company.
Daisy Group has seen its fair share of corporate activity since it started operating in 2001. Well known for a highly acquisitive growth strategy, including some 50 takeovers, the former Aim-listed company employs 3,700 staff in 30 locations across the UK.
A Daisy Group spokesperson declined to comment yesterday on the mooted float plans.