Sfestyle | Zeus Capital

Zeus Capital has advised Safestyle UK plc (Ticker: SFE) on its AIM IPO and £70 million institutional fundraise with 42 institutions participating. On admission Safestyle UK plc had a market capitalisation of £78 million.

The IPO is the second largest by a corporate on AIM in 2013. Zeus Capital acted as Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker.

Safestyle UK plc is a UK-focused retailer and manufacturer of PVCu windows and doors for the homeowner replacement market. The Group’s business has grown from its founding in 1992 to become the largest company in the UK homeowner window and door replacement market, manufacturing 232,000 frames in 2012 and carrying out in excess of 50,000 installations.

The company has a strong market presence (particularly in the North of England) and the Directors believe that they can achieve further growth in the South of England. Safestyle has established a strong and cash-generative financial track record over a number of years, with revenues in the year ended 31 December 2012 of £110.2 million and profit before tax of £9.5 million. For the six month period to 30 June 2013 the business achieved sales of £62.6 million and profit before tax of £7.8 million.

The Safestyle UK plc IPO is the third significant IPO Zeus has undertaken in the last six months, following on from the successes of Conviviality Retail plc (CVR) and CentralNic Group plc (CNIC). Zeus has raised over £150m for clients during 2013 and with a strong pipeline going into 2014 looks forward to announcing further successful transactions.

Steve Birmingham, CEO at Safestyle UK plc commented;
“The support that we have received from Zeus has been first class. From their initial assessment of the market, all the way through to completing our heavily over-subscribed placing they have provided sound advice and successfully implemented each and every step along the way. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship as we begin an exciting life as a plc.”

Tim Metcalfe, Joint CEO of Zeus Capital commented;
“We are delighted to have advised Safestyle on its AIM IPO. The £70m vendor placing has enabled a founding shareholder to realise his investment whilst the listing on AIM will provide a solid platform for the Company’s future development. Zeus has acted on two of the three largest corporate IPO’s on AIM in 2013. We believe the Company has an exciting future and we looking forward to working with Safestyle and its management on its journey as a public company.”