UK - Hellman seeks Gartmore listing

Gartmore, which manages more than £17bn pounds of assets and specialises in retail, institutional and alterative markets, was acquired by Hellman from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in 2006 for £550m. Goldman Sachs and HSBC led the debt financing for the transaction, which saw the buyout house acquire a majority interest of 51% in the company.

Hellman had originally touted the idea of floating London-based Gartmore just before the credit crisis emerged in July 2007, with the backers seeking to raise around £1.5bn. The idea was shelved as the downturn hit and company valuations subsequently tumbled.

The market rally of recent months has reignited interest for a listing, and not just for Hellman. Many major buyout houses that have been starved of exits in the last two years have indicated they will seek to float better-performing assets in the near future. In the UK, Bridgepoint's Pets At Home and Permira- and Apax-backed New Look have both announced plans to float next year, with plans to raise £700m and £1.7bn respectively.

Question marks remain, however, as to the benefit to the underlying businesses of impending floatations. One analyst recently told unquote" that such exits can produce attractive returns for the investor, but often do not result in any substantial quantity of debt being removed from the balance sheet. Given the high levels of debt in many of these deals, he argued, these businesses will remain under pressure as they will still need to refinance this debt before the loans mature.

Source close to Hellman indicated that firm would look to reduce its stake in the business as a result of the listing.

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• UK / Ireland