AIM flotation to value Gear4music at £28m
ONLINE retailer Gear4music, which sells musical instruments from its York headquarters, is to raise £10.3m when it floats on AIM next week.
It values the company at £28m after the placing price was set at 139p. Gear4music was launched 12 years ago by chief executive Andrew Wass and he will retain 41.1% after it lists. Key Capital Partners will hold 24% of the company – doubling the value of its £3.4m investment in 2012.
The vast majority of the fundraising will be used to invest in its bespoke ecommerce platform, the opening of a flagship showroom in London, marketing, extending its product range and paying down debt. £300,000 will go to shareholders who are selling existing shares.
Mr Wass said: “Our admission to AIM is an important milestone in the company’s development and provides an excellent platform from which to build on our success to date.”
Panmure Gordon has advised on the placing with institutional and other investors.
Gear4music supports 19 websites in 15 languages and 8 currencies and has more than 590,000 registered customers.
