Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Pets at Home, Harris + Hoole, Carphone Warehouse

Pets at Home owner KKR might reap over £200m from IPO

Private equity firm KKR could garner more than £200m from Pets at Home’s £1.3bn stock market flotation, The Guardian reported. Meanwhile, the investment bankers running the process stand to collect £40m in fees. Some £209m will be returned to existing shareholders, if there is strong demand for shares in the specialist retailer. According to the firm’s prospectus, the management team are in line for cash and share payments worth more than £20m.

The capital proceeds from the IPO are being used to reduce the retailer’s overall debt burden. A chunk of the £351m it plans to raise will be used to repay a bank syndicate. KKR’s payout may rise further as it will release another tranche of shares if the offer is oversubscribed. Pets at Home is part of a raft of retailers rushing to capitalise on buoyant equity markets.

Harris + Hoole eyes major expansion of up to 60 shops

Harris + Hoole, the coffee shop chain that is half-owned by UK’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco, is planning to double in size to up to 60 outlets employing over 1,000 people, The Guardian reported. The chain hopes to recruit an additional 500 people this year as it embarks on a major expansion in the south-east. A spokeswoman for the chain declined to state exactly how many new stores are planned. The spokeswoman said most of the new stores will be the south-east of England and would be split between standalone high street branches and concessions inside Tesco stores.

Data Protection Commissioner prosecutes Carphone Warehouse and Valterous

Carphone Warehouse was fined €3,000 and beauty clinic Valterous, which was trading as Therapie Clinic, was fined €6,000 in Ireland for sending spam text messages, The Irish Times reported.

The Data Protection Commissioner prosecuted the two retailers Carphone Warehouse. They pleaded guilty before Dublin District Court to five charges of sending unsolicited marketing texts to two individuals. Judge convicted it on four counts and took the fifth into account. He imposed fines of €1,500 for each of the convictions. Valterous pleaded guilty to three charges of sending unsolicited marketing texts to two people. Judge convicted on two charges, imposing a fine of €1,500 for each. He took the third into account.

Crew Clothing hires Amy Bastow as commercial director

UK-based clothing retailer Crew Clothing has hired Amy Bastow as its commercial director, Drapers reported. Reporting directly to managing director Octavia Morley, Bastow will work alongside the senior team to drive growth for the chain. She joined in February. She is former Cath Kidston’s strategy and ecommerce director.