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Footasylum to be valued at £171m when it floats next week

Lauretta Roberts
27 October 2017

Premium young fashion and footwear chain Footasylum has confirmed that the business will float with a valuation of £171.3m when its shares start trading on London's AIM next week.

In an announcement to the London Stock Market this morning the business said it aims to raise gross proceeds of approximately £65.4m from institutional and other investors when shares start trading at 8am on 2 November under the ticker of FOOT.

Its IPO, which it confirmed earlier this month, comprises a conditional placing and subscription of 26,474,390 new and 13,381,134 existing ordinary shares of £0.001 each at a placing price of £1.64 per share.

Funds raised from the IPO will go towards expanding the 61-store chain (it has previously stated an ambition to grow to 150 stores) and approximately £3.9m will be used to repay a director's loan made to the company by its chairman John Wardle.

Chief executive Clare Nesbitt, who is the daughter of the business' founder David Makin, said: "Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the Footasylum story. We are delighted that our product-led, multi-channel expansion strategy has resonated so strongly with investors, and are thrilled to have received such a strong level of demand for the Placing. We welcome our new shareholders and look forward to delivering the significant potential that we see for Footasylum as a quoted business."

Upon admission the Makin family will retain a 63% interest in the business, which last year achieved sales of £147m – up from £110.4m in the previous year. Around 71% of its sales come from its stores with the balance coming from its ecommerce site.

David Makin founded Footasylum in 2005 and was later joined in the venture by Wardle; the pair had previously made their names by establishing and subsequently selling the JD Sports empire. Wardle was CEO of Footasylum from 2008 to 2015 when he was replaced by Nesbitt who had joined the business in 2009.

Wardle stepped into the role of executive chairman but the company has previously announced that he will stand down from that role in June of next year to be replaced by Barry Bown, a retail veteran of 30 years' experience and a previous CEO of JD Sports.

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