Top Fund Managers To Back Time Out Listing

Some of the City's top fund managers are to plough tens of millions of pounds into Time Out, the media group, which will this week unveil plans for its own London listing.

Sky News understands that Neil Woodford, the prominent investor, is expected to acquire a significant stake in Time Out as part of a flotation that will value the company at between £185m and £225m.

The move to go public on the junior AIM stock market will be signalled on Tuesday by Oakley Capital, Time Out's controlling shareholder since 2011, according to people close to the situation.

Time Out, which has transformed itself from an analogue publisher of urban leisure listings magazines into a global digital media and e-commerce group and venue-owner, intends to raise £90m by selling new shares.

Woodford Investment Management, which is separately an investor in Oakley's listed vehicle, will be joined by other well-known City institutions, insiders said.

The proceeds from the initial public offering will be used to fund expansion by opening new food markets in cities other than Lisbon, and pay down £25m of net debt, they said.

The announcement of the flotation will come just three weeks before the UK holds a referendum on its membership of the European Union, at a time when many companies have been deterred from announcing capital markets activity because of investor uncertainty.

Lord Rose, the former chairman of Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) and chairman of Britain Stronger in Europe - the official campaign to keep the UK in the EU - is expected to be on the board of Time Out Group, having previously been appointed as a director of its food markets unit.

Other non-executives will include Christine Petersen, a former chief marketing officer of the online travel business TripAdvisor (NasdaqGS: TRIP - news) , and Tony Elliott, Time Out's founder.

The company's chief executive, Julio Bruno, is also a former TripAdvisor executive, while Peter Dubens, the Oakley Capital founder, will be Time Out's chairman when it goes public.

Oakley initially invested in Time Out in 2011 when it acquired the London magazine, then united the underlying intellectual property behind the brand by subsequently acquiring its global and US interests.

Under Oakley's ownership, the company has seen digital activities rise from 10% to almost half of its revenues.

Time Out is presently loss-making and is expected to be for several more years because of the investment required to expand its food markets business, its marketing activity and its range of digital products, according to insiders.

Nevertheless, the brand now has a global monthly reach of 111 million people, with a significant proportion of that interacting with Time Out through social media platforms.

Oakley's ownership of the brand has underlined the challenges facing the owners of media and content brands, but has been rewarded for its decision to scrap the listings magazine‎'s cover-price in Chicago, London and New York, resulting in a sharp rise in circulation.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) continues to charge for the magazine in other parts of the world.

Time Out is keen to expand its food market business from the current site in Lisbon, which has become Portugal's leading visitor attraction, with 65,000 consumers visiting every week.

Sites in Berlin, London, Miami, New York and Porto have been identified by the media company's executives, with advanced discussions taking place about their locations and opening timetables.

The flotation is being handled by Liberum, an investment bank.

Spokesmen for Time Out Group and Oakley Capital declined to comment.