Waterstones to book chairman as London listing gains pace
Bookselling titan Waterstones is on the hunt for a chairman as it picks up the pace on its rumoured London listing.
Elliott Management, the activist equity firm which owns Waterstones, has hired headhunters at Russell Reynolds Associates to draw up a list of candidates to join the bookseller’s board.
This is the latest signal that the bookseller is nearing a float on the London stock exchange, which would be one of the capital’s most high-profile listings in years as it looks to turn the page on a prolonged drought of major IPOs.
A number of high-profile British businesspeople have been bookmarked for the role, having been told that the bookseller plans to list in London, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman.
In January, it was reported Eliott was preparing to appoint London-based Rothschild to advise its float, suggesting a UK listing was becoming more likely than the US.
This came after James Daunt reportedly attended a roundtable with Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October where she made a case for the London Stock Exchange as a major listing venue.
London listing within reach
Daunt had previously implied that the City could be a natural home for businesses like Waterstones, when he described the bookseller as “a solid, predictable retailer with steady growth and dividend payouts”, likening it to Next – one of London’s retail success stories.
Speaking to the BBC in January, Daunt said an IPO float either in London or New York was an “inevitability and better than being flipped to the next private equity person”.
Daunt, founder of the eponymous book chain, was appointed managing director of Waterstones in 2011 after it was bought by A&NN Group for £53m.
Elliott acquired Waterstones in 2018 before snapping up US bookselling giant Barnes & Noble in 2019 for $683m and installed Daunt as chief executive.
Under Daunt’s leadership Waterstones has expanded aggressively, with Elliott Management acquiring other key British booksellers including Foyles, Hatchards and Blackwell’s.
The bookseller’s float was expected to come this year but current market volatility caused by the war in Iran could make this unlikely, according to Sky.
Waterstones trades from 316 stores and employs about 4,000 people in the UK, while Barnes & Noble operates from more than 600 locations in the US.
The UK bookseller has expanded aggressively under the leadership of James Daunt, who separately owns his eponymous bookseller chain, opening dozens of new shops since he took charge in 2011.