New Look withdraws flotation

The fashion chain New Look yesterday became the third major company in as many days to scrap a planned stock market flotation, blaming the lack of appetite of potential investors.

The high street stalwart, which has 1,010 branches, blamed the current "volatility" of the market and noted that the shares of listed retailers had fallen 11.3 per cent since the start of the year.

The postponement came 10 days after New Look, which is backed by private equity, formally announced its £1.7bn initial public offering (IPO).Up to 10 companies are understood to have dropped pulled plans for flotations in the past two weeks.