Online sales boom: Barclay family resuscitate plans for Very Group £4bn public listing
The family behind the Telegraph newspapers is thought to be reviving plans for a blockbuster IPO of online retail giant Very Group.
The Barclay family are keen to get sidelined plans for a £4bn float back on track, according to a report in The Times.
Very Group owns e-commerce brands including fashion retailer Very and homeware and clothing seller Littlewoods.
It is hoped a public listing would be achieved by the middle of next year, according to the newspaper’s reports.
Senior managers have been offered incentive packages in order to stay on for a number of years to steer the retail firm through its public listing.
After the pandemic saw the company’s sales skyrocket, bosses had been keen for an IPO. However, these ambitions were put on ice as tech firms have seen their share prices crash in the months after going public.
Concerns over historic levels of inflation, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, further stalled plans.
In its results for the year ended 3 July 2021, group revenue had swelled 13 per cent to a record £2.3bn, driven in particular by Very retail sales.
Very also hit a total of 3.82m customers in the year ended July 3 2021, boosting the group’s total customers to 4.82m.
Analysts said at the time that these results would do well to “whet the appetite of potential investors.”
“Value with simple payment solutions will appeal to budget conscious shoppers and investments made to amp up automation in its fulfilment centre will help it navigate labour shortages,” Danni Hewson, AJ Bell financial analyst, said.
However, Hewson had cautioned that retail was a “competitive beast” with consumers demanding “more than ever” from their shopping experiences, be it online or physical stores.
“If the business does follow through on tentative plans to float next year [2022] investors will pull apart growth plans, ensuring this bump isn’t just a Covid coincidence,” she added.