Safestyle set for place on AIM
WINDOW and door manufacturer Safestyle UK has announced its intention to float on the stock market.
The Bradford headquartered firm, which employs 600 staff at factories in Bradford and Barnsley, said it intends to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) next month with an initial market capitalisation of around £77m.
The business reported revenues in the year ended December 31 2012 of £110.2m and pre-tax profit of £9.5m. For the six months to the end of June this year, revenues were £62.6m and pre-tax profit was £7.8m.
The firm is well known for its ‘buy one get one free’ (BOGOF) TV advertising featuring the loudmouth ‘Safestyle Window Man’ Cannon & Ball, former Bucks Fizz member Cheryl Baker, Ken Morley who was Reg Holdsworth on Coronation Street and once even former Leeds United chairman Ken Bates.
Steve Birmingham, CEO of Safestyle, said: “Trading in the current year has progressed well, in line with our expectations. We believe that given the fundamentals of the business and the structural and geographic market opportunities, an IPO is the right strategy to support our continued development.
“This marks a major milestone for Safestyle which we believe will increase the profile of our business, provide further credibility to our leading offering and enable us to put in place share incentive plans for staff whose dedication and hard work has contributed significantly to the success of our company.
“We are ideally positioned to capitalise on future growth opportunities and we are looking forward to a successful future as a public company.”
Safestyle UK was founded in 1992 and has become one of the largest companies in the UK homeowner window and door replacement market, manufacturing 232,000 frames in 2012 and carrying out more than 50,000 installations.
The company has 10 installation depots and 29 sales offices throughout the country. Safestyle said it has increased its market share nationally from 4.4% in 2007 to 7.5% in 2012, in a market which it said has declined 35% from its 2007 highpoint.
The Yorkshire business said there is “significant growth and market opportunity with infrastructure in place to support capacity growth”. Assuming a replacement cycle of 20 years for double glazed windows and doors, the potential market is approximately £2.4bn per annum, against a current market of £1.8bn per annum, it said.
Safestyle has a 120,000 sq ft manufacturing site in Wombwell, South Yorkshire. Current output is 5,000 units per week and the directors believe that it could be increased by over 50% in the medium term.
On admission to AIM the Safestyle board will comprise Steve Halbert (non-executive chairman), Steve Birmingham (CEO), Mike Robinson (finance director) and Chris Davies (non-executive).
The company is being advised on its flotation on AIM by Zeus Capital, which is acting as nominated adviser and sole broker. KPMG supported the transaction with corporate finance, transaction services and tax advice. DLA Piper acted as legal advisers to the company.
