Pets at Home makes a quiet start as public company

PETS at Home, the latest North West retailer to float on the public markets, made a quiet start as a listed company when shares started to trade on the open market.

The Handforth-based group was trading close to its 245p list price, distinctly lacking the excitement seen around the AIM IPO last week of pure-play fashion retailer Boohoo, or Bolton-based white goods specialist AO.com, which both saw sharp increases in their share price amid strong demand for the stock.

Pets at Home has a market capitalisation of £1.2bn, and the listing unlocked a tidy profit, on paper at least, for KKR, the private equity group which bought the company for £995m in early 2010.

KKR is taking the bulk of £210m of proceeds from the £280m raised in the offer and  is reducing its stake to just over 46%.