Stock market return for ex-N Brown chief
N BROWN’S former chief executive Alan White is making a stock market return, chairing the board of online retailer MandM Direct.
The business, which is based in Leominster, Herefordshire, announced its intention to float on the Alternative Investment market (AIM) this morning with a listing that is expected to value the company at between £140m and £170m.
The company expects to raise £12.5m which it will use to repay debt and fund future growth.
It was founded in 1987 and now runs local websites in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Poland, serving 1.3m active households.
In the year to the end of February MandM recorded revenues of £118.9m and earnings before, interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £10.5m, an increase of 9% and 21% respectively on the prior year.
Mr White stood down at N Brown last autumn after a more than 10 years as chief executive. He also holds non-executive directorships at Direct Wines, Topps Tiles and Hotter shoes.
In a statement he said: “MandM Direct’s management team has built a leading online offprice retailer and is highly regarded by its suppliers, with exciting prospects for the future. MandM Direct’s long-standing trading relationships with many international brands allow the company to offer outstanding discounts to customers. I am delighted to be involved with MandM Direct at this stage of its development and am looking forward to working with the high calibre executive team and board which the business has in place.”
The firm’s senior management is led by chief executive Jonathon Brown, previously online director at John Lewis.
He said: “We believe that MandM Direct’s success is founded on offering strong brands at discounts of up to 75% off RRP. This proposition is underpinned by long-standing trading relationships with brand owners for whom we are a highly regarded solution to moving excess stock while seeking to protect their brand image. It has enabled us to build an active customer base of 1.3m households.
“We are well positioned to benefit from the trends towards online retail and have a clear strategy to develop our UK and to expand our European businesses. This listing represents an exciting stage in our development and will give us the opportunity to further accelerate our growth.”
