Time Out’s share price flops on London market debut
Time Out Group, the 48-year-old city guide publisher turned food market owner, is not having the best start to its life as listed company.
Shares fell as low as 133p, more than 10 per cent below its 150p flotation price, this morning. There was a slight up-lift directly after the open but it could not be sustained.
Shares briefly climbed as high as 154p before falling back.
The firm raised £90m from the share sale to fuel its international expansion. It wants expand its food markets in cities such as London, Miami and Berlin. It opened its first food market in Lisbon in 2014.
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The timing could be better for Time Out. The FTSE 100 has this morning dipped below the 6,000 level for the first time since February as fears over a UK exit from the European Union mount ahead of next weeks referendum vote.
It's thought among IPO experts that many companies are holding back from listing before the EU referendum on 23 June.
Liberum Capital was Time Out’s nominated adviser and sole bookrunner. It first emerged that Time Out was planning an IPO at the end of April.
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The magazine was founded in 1968 in London and now operates across 107 cities in 39 countries.
It switched to being a free weekly publication in London in 2012. It competes with other free magazines in the capital such as Shortlist, NME, Sport and Stylist.
In the second half of 2015, it had an average UK circulation of just over 300,000, according to ABC.