As predicted, Punch Group confirmed plans to float on the Stock Exchange, though with no chance for the public to buy any of its shares.
In a short statement, Punch,
confirmed it will be offering shares to institutional investors, but gave no official details of the timing of the float, the likely share price nor how many shares it will sell.
A spokesman said the listing was likely to be in either May or June. It is believed Punch Group, which is reverting to its old name of Punch Taverns for the float, hopes to price and allocate its shares in May, with the full flotation process concluding in June.
Punch, which runs 4,252 tenanted pubs through its Punch Pub Co subsidiary, is expected to issue £500m to £700m of share equity in May or June in a float that is likely to value the group at up to £2.2bn. Although observers expect it to pay off some of its £1.5bn of debt with the proceeds of the float, Punch indicated it will be using at least some of the money to pay for further pub acquisitions. It said it believes there will be "potential opportunities for acquisitions of pub estates" as part of the ongoing consolidation in the pubs sector. Punch's targets are likely to include Pubmaster, which would make a good geographical fit.
A private equity consortium led by the American venture capital company Texas Pacific owns 85% of Punch, with Texas Pacific itself owning some 30%. Punch's main founder, Hugh Osmond, owns around 3% of the company, potentially worth around £18m, with the rest held by management, other founders and other private investors. All the backers, including Osmond, have said they would like to hold on to some of their stakes.
In a short statement, Punch,
confirmed it will be offering shares to institutional investors, but gave no official details of the timing of the float, the likely share price nor how many shares it will sell.
A spokesman said the listing was likely to be in either May or June. It is believed Punch Group, which is reverting to its old name of Punch Taverns for the float, hopes to price and allocate its shares in May, with the full flotation process concluding in June.
Punch, which runs 4,252 tenanted pubs through its Punch Pub Co subsidiary, is expected to issue £500m to £700m of share equity in May or June in a float that is likely to value the group at up to £2.2bn. Although observers expect it to pay off some of its £1.5bn of debt with the proceeds of the float, Punch indicated it will be using at least some of the money to pay for further pub acquisitions. It said it believes there will be "potential opportunities for acquisitions of pub estates" as part of the ongoing consolidation in the pubs sector. Punch's targets are likely to include Pubmaster, which would make a good geographical fit.
A private equity consortium led by the American venture capital company Texas Pacific owns 85% of Punch, with Texas Pacific itself owning some 30%. Punch's main founder, Hugh Osmond, owns around 3% of the company, potentially worth around £18m, with the rest held by management, other founders and other private investors. All the backers, including Osmond, have said they would like to hold on to some of their stakes.
