The Card Factory set to join host of UK IPOs
The Card Factory has announced it will proceed with plans for an initial public offering (IPO), joining a host of UK retailers to list on the London Stock Exchange in recent months.
The IPO will comprise of an offer of new and existing shares to institutional investors.
The company has also announced that former Travis Perkins chief executive Geoff Cooper, will be appointed non-executive chairman ahead of the IPO. The retailer expects to have net debt of roughly £160m after the listing.
The Card Factory boasts a nationwide chain of over 700 stores as well as two online offerings. The company which launched operations in 1997, sold 285m single cards in the financial year ending 31 January, with revenues rising by nine per cent to £327m.
The Card Factory is hoping to raise £90m in gross proceeds to pay back debts and cut its borrowing costs.
Richard Hayes, CEO of Card Factory, commented:
Since opening our first store in 1997, we have firmly established Card Factory as the UK's leading specialist retailer in the greeting cards market. The scale, resilience and continued growth of this market reflect the fact that the giving of physical cards is and will remain ingrained in UK culture.