Footasylum to float with market capitalisation of £171.3m
Rochdale-based fashion-focused footwear firm Footasylum is to float on the AIM with a market capitalisation of £171.3m, and will make its 30-year-old chief executive the youngest boss of a listed company.
The business , founded by David Makin who is the father of CEO Clare Nesbitt, will raise about £65.4m with its initial public offering.
Footasylum has conditionally raised £43.4m as a result of the placing and the subscription.
About £18.7m will be used to redeem the preference shares in accordance with the redemption agreement and approximately £3.9m will be used to repay a director’s loan made to the company by the chairman John Wardle.
The Makin family, will be hold approximately 63% of the issued share capital of the company, on admission.
Nesbitt 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.”
GCA Altium acted as financial adviser and nominated adviser, with Liberum Capital acting as broker. Deloitte provided due diligence.
Footasylum was launched with a single shop in Cheshire in 2005 by Makin in the same year that he and John Wardle – the J behind Bury-based JD Sports – received £45m from selling their 45% stake in JD Sports to Pentland Group. Three years later Wardle joined Makin at Footasylum.
