Footwear giant Hotter Shoes is to float on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market towards the end of the year, its owner, which is also behind TGI Fridays, has confirmed.
The Skelmersdale company is expected to complete an IPO during the fourth quarter, Electra Private Equity revealed in a trading update about its own performance in the six months to March 31, 2021.
The shoemaker and retailer was valued at £19.2m and reported 30% online growth over the past seven months after shutting 46 stores last year as part of a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring.
In January it reported a 27% leap in year-on-year online sales in the six weeks to December 31, 2020.
Electra Private Equity has also confirmed plans to float TGI Fridays on the FTSE Main Market in the third quarter.
Neil Johnson, chairman of Electra Private Equity, said: "With the recent sale of Sentinel, we enter the final stage of our strategy with confidence, having returned over £2bn to shareholders since October 2016.
"The new management teams at our two remaining larger portfolio assets, Fridays and Hotter, have performed admirably through the pandemic, not just sustaining their businesses in the most difficult circumstances, but also transforming them.
"In light of this, and their potential for further significant longer term value creation, the Board has decided that the optimal outcome for shareholders is likely to lie in a capital market solution for both businesses.
"It is our intention to demerge Fridays onto the FTSE Main Market late in the third quarter of this year and, subsequently, in the fourth quarter, to bring Hotter on to AIM through reclassification of the Electra entity. Plans are well advanced for both listings."
Hotter Shoes' owner said that following the implementation of its "direct to consumer" operating model in October 2020, it continues to "perform strongly" with focus on its 'freesole', 'cushion +' and 'stability +' product ranges.
It saw UK online like for like sales growth of 30% in the seven months to end April 2021 and its EBITDA over the same period was 8% higher than previous expectations.
The company's net debt stood at £12m as of March 31, 2021.
