Joules confirms plans to float on Aim

British fashion and lifestyle retailer Joules, known for its colourful country-inspired clothing, has announced plans to float on London Stock Exchange’s Aim market.

The fashion retailer said that the initial public offering will take place in the second quarter of 2016, with a valuation of 140 million pounds. The listing will see founder Tom Joule net around 40 million pounds as he reduces his 80 percent stake to less than 50 percent, while private equity firm LDC, which bought a stake in 2013 to help the retailer’s expansion, will also offload its 20 percent stake as part of the listing.

Tom Joule founded the brand in 1989 and it has become a high street name known for its distinctive, colourful and print designs. The retailer currently operates 98 stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as an established e-commerce platform. The brand has been opening an average of 12 new stores each year in the UK over the last three years.

In addition to its growing presence in the UK, Joules has also been establishing itself in America and Germany, with international revenues between 2013 and 2015 increasing by 198 percent to 10.6 million pounds.

Overall group revenues for the same period, 2013 to 2015 have also increased by 50.2 percent to 116.4 million pounds, driven by its store roll-out, continued expansion of e-commerce and increased sales within existing wholesale accounts, such as John Lewis and Next Label.

Joules set for 140 million pound listing on Aim market

In preparation for the admission, Joules has appointed David Stead as senior independent non-executive director and Jill Little as independent non-executive director, with Neil McCausland continuing as non-executive chairman of the group, while Tom Joule will remain as chief brand officer and as an executive director following the float.

Joules chief executive officer, Colin Porter, said: “Joules is a distinctive, established and fast-growing lifestyle brand and we are delighted to announce our intention to list on Aim as an exciting new phase in the brand's development.

“Joules has a rare heritage and a strong presence across clothing and lifestyle product categories. Since the brand's foundation more than 26 years ago, Joules has enjoyed strong, consistent growth developing into the much-loved fun, family, 'time-off' lifestyle brand it is today. We have a clear strategy to develop the brand further and we see real potential for continued growth across channels both in our core UK market and internationally.”

The money raised will assist the brand in boosting store numbers in the UK and overseas in existing markets, as well as expand the Joules brand to “meet the lifestyle needs” of its customers with new product categories.

Joules is being advised by Rothschild, while Peel Hunt LLP and Liberum Capital Limited are joint bookrunners.

Images: Joules