Umbro to float on stock market
Football brand Umbro today unveiled plans to float on the London stock market in a move set to value the England kit supplier at around £200m (€299.3m).
Umbro is planning a June listing as the group looks to build on the revival in its brand following the arrival of a new management team five years ago.
Targets for the group include to develop a presence in the branded footwear market, as well as to grow the business in the United States.
Umbro currently supplies playing and training kit to the England football team, while it is also associated with 150 leading professional clubs worldwide, including Chelsea and Olympique Lyonnais of France.
Alan Shearer and Michael Owen – England strikers past and present – are among 170 players who endorse the Umbro brand.
The flotation, involving the offer of new and existing shares to institutional investors, will allow Doughty Hanson – the venture capital firm that owns 83% of Umbro – to get a return on its £90m (€134.7m) investment in 1999.
The move will also leave Umbro’s chief executive Peter McGuigan, who currently has an 8% holding, with a stake worth around £10m (€15m).
Mr McGuigan said: “Umbro has been transformed over the last five years and is now well placed to benefit from the growing international interest in football.
“Umbro’s flotation will allow us to strengthen our brand profile and accelerate our international strategy.”
