UK - New Look IPO off

Sarah
01 May 2007

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Rumours that Apax and Permira were going to float portfolio company New Look were unfounded. The high street fashion retailer looks set to change private equity hands, with Merrill Lynch appointed to run an auction. KKR, CVC and Texas Pacific Group are all reported to have shown an interest in the business. The deal would represent the tertiary buyout of the Weymouth-based company, with previous owners including Barclays Private Equity and Prudential Venture Managers who bought it in 1996 for £170m.

After being listed in 1998 with a value of £330m, New Look was taken-private by its current owners in 2004 in a £699m deal. During their three year stewardship of New Look, Apax and Permira have recapped it twice in a £200m refinancing in 2005 and a £359m refinancing in 2006. The reason for choosing the financial buyer exit route over an IPO is thought to be linked to the Debenhams-effect which has seen public shareholders unreceptive to private equity-backed assets. The current state of the debt market and the appetite of other private equity players have led Apax and Permira to believe they will be able to achieve a higher price for New Look by keeping it off the public markets.