BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Yesterday, on the same day that the FT said a Halfords float was unlikely, CVC announced its intention to seek a listing of Halfords shares on the London Stock Exchange by way of an initial public offering.
The offer went first to institutional investors with the publication of its pathfinder prospectus. Merrill Lynch International and Citigroup are joint bookrunners of the Global Offer.
There’s an indicative price range of 250p to 300p per share, valuing Halfords equity at £626.8m.
CVC will sell £282.1m worth of shares 45 percent of its equity in the IPO. CVC will still control 45.6 percent of the stock.
David Hamid, Halfords CEO said:
The decision to seek a listing for Halfords will enable us to build upon the success that we have achieved to date and secure the future growth of our company."
CVC believes that Halfords differentiates itself from its competitors through its "national store portfolio, its broad product range, competitive pricing (achieved through scale of purchasing power), customer service offerings performed in-store by staff (e.g. fitting and repair services) and its strong brands."
Halfords – which has 387 stores across the UK and accounts for 25-35 percent of the UK market for bikes and P&A – had a turnover of £578.6m in 2004 up from £525.8m in 2003.
Halfords plans to open 10 superstores a year.
