Vacuum retailing business Godfreys is set to lodge its IPO prospectus with the regulator on November 21, ahead of an ASX listing slated for mid-December. The company is marketing the float to fund managers in Sydney and Melbourne this week.
The roughly $100 million IPO comprises mainly of a selldown by existing investors, with a smaller proportion of fresh capital raising for the company. The offer will constitute around 70 per cent of the post-issue capital of the company.
Analysts at Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Credit Suisse -- which are lead managers for the issue -- had earlier valued the company in the range of $142 million to $168 million, or about 6.5 times to 7.9 times ebitda on an enterprise value basis.
Godfreys, which operates 208 stores across Australia and New Zealand, is forecast to report EBITDA of $22.1m for the 2015 financial year.
The business, founded in 1931, was acquired by Pacific Equity Partners and Unitas Capital in 2006 for around $300m. But the two private equity firms exited -- at a loss -- under a debt-for-equity swap deal in 2011, when the company suffered through tough retail conditions.
The firm is chaired by retail veteran Rod Walker, who is also chairman at the PAS Group.
