Pets at Home confirms its intention to float

Pets at Home intends to apply for admission of its shares to the premium listing of the Official List of the UK Listing Authority.

It said the proceeds from the listing are expected to be £275m, which it will use to reduce the retailer’s debt and, combined with £325m proceeds from the new senior facilities agreement, it will repay all outstanding debt under its existing senior facilities agreement.

Additionally, current shareholders including private equity backer KKR may sell their shares. Selling shareholders will target a minimum free float of at least 25%. Pets at Home staff will be able to apply to purchase shares in the company.

Pets at Home also revealed it recorded a 2.4% jump in like-for-likes and an 11.1% surge in underlying EBITDA growth to £87m.

As a result, Pets at Home said the board remains confident on the outlook for the full financial year ending March 27, 2014 with forecast underlying EBITDA of not less than £110.2m.

The retailer could be valued at as much as £1.5bn.

Pets at Home chairman Tony DeNunzio said: “Pets at Home is the clear leader in an attractive market and is led by an experienced and passionate management team with a proven track record of delivering strong revenue and EBITDA growth.

“The significant investment that has been made over the past few years provides Pets at Home with very strong foundations and positions the company well for the next stage of its development in the public market.”

Pets at Home has appointed four independent non-executive directors to the board and confirmed the appointment of Halfords chairman Dennis Millard as its non-executive deputy chairman. It said a fifth appointment will be made before its admission. It emerged last week that Pets at Home had hired former Carphone Warehouse executive Amy Stirling and Tessa Green, a trustee of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s charitable foundation, as non-executive directors. It has also appointed John Lewis IT director Paul Coby to the board.

Denunzio added: “I am pleased that Dennis Millard is joining us as deputy chairman and I look forward to working with him, the other board members and the management team to create value for our shareholders. I believe that Pets at Home has a very exciting future as a publicly listed company.”

Pets at Home said like-for-like growth will be driven by product innovation and increased demand for premium products, such as advanced nutrition and ramping up its store launches.

Pets at Home, which operates 369 stores and 246 veterinary surgeries, is targeting more than 500 stores, 700 veterinary practices and 300 Groom Rooms. It is also planning to fit 150 existing stores with a veterinary surgery over the next five years and 105 Groom Rooms in the next three years.

Pets at Home chief executive Nick Wood said: “We have delivered consistently strong financial growth and since 2009 we have gained share across all segments of the market. Our performance has been further characterised by an unbroken track record of positive like-for-like performance over the last decade. Even after the investment made in the business, our operational cash flow has remained consistently strong.

“This is a very exciting time for Pets at Home as we continue to innovate for our customers in both our products and services, and look to drive our expansion programme in the UK to over 500 stores, more than 700 veterinary practices and in excess of 300 Groom Rooms in the medium term.”