This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26253617

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Pets at Home plans £275m stock market flotation Pets at Home plans £275m stock market flotation
(about 2 hours later)
Pets at Home has announced plans for a £275m flotation on the London Stock Exchange.Pets at Home has announced plans for a £275m flotation on the London Stock Exchange.
The pet store and veterinary surgery chain, mainly owned by US private equity group KKR, hopes the share offering will help reduce its debt. The initial public offering (IPO) is expected to value the pet store and veterinary surgery chain at £1.2bn.
It is the latest of several retailers set to list this year. The move comes a day after discount chain Poundland announced plans for a £750m float. The company, which has 369 stores and 246 surgeries, is the latest of several retailers to announce flotation plans this year.
The firm has 369 stores across the UK and 246 vet surgeries. Its move comes a day after discount chain Poundland announced plans for a £750m listing.
Nick Wood, the company's chief executive, said the company had plans for a big expansion. About 500 members of Pets at Home staff, who own 10% of the business, could receive an average of about £240,000 each in the share offering, although holdings of senior executives are likely to be much larger than those of shop workers.
"This is a very exciting time for Pets at Home as we look to drive our expansion programme in the UK to over 500 stores, more than 700 veterinary practices and in excess of 300 groom rooms in the medium term, " he added. The company, which was bought in 2010 by US private equity group KKR for £955m, hopes the share offering will reduce its debt and aid expansion plans.
Pets at Home said KKR, certain other shareholders and members of the management team may also realise a part of their investment in the company through the repayment of shareholder loans and a sale of new shares. Nick Wood, the company's chief executive, said: "This is a very exciting time for Pets at Home as we look to drive our expansion programme in the UK to over 500 stores, more than 700 veterinary practices and in excess of 300 groom rooms in the medium term."
The firm said there would be a minimum free float of at least 25% of the group's issued share capital. Pets at Home said like-for-like revenues had grown by 2.4% and underlying earnings by 11.1% to £87m in the 40-week period to January 2. This is expected to reach at least £110m in the year to the end of March.
Flotation flurry
The company has also announced the appointment of four new board members ahead of the float, including Halfords chairman Dennis Millard, who will become Pets at Home's deputy chairman.
The listing follows several similar announcements from other retailers so far this year, including newsagent and convenience store McColl's and electrical appliances retailer AO, as well as Poundland.The listing follows several similar announcements from other retailers so far this year, including newsagent and convenience store McColl's and electrical appliances retailer AO, as well as Poundland.
Fat Face and House of Fraser are among other retailers expected to come to market this year. In another IPO announcement, King Digital Entertainment, the computer games developer behind Candy Crush Saga, filed to float on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Fat Face and House of Fraser are among other retailers expected to come to market this year.