Trainer shop FootAsylum is heading for a £150 million stock market float

FootAsylum Leeds Store

FootAsylum

LONDON — UK trainer and youth fashion retailer FootAsylum has announced plans to list on the stock market, aiming to raise funds to more than double the number of stores.

FootAsylum, set up by the two cofounders of JD Sports 12 years ago, announced plans on Monday to list shares on London's AIM growth market in an initial public offering pegged for November.

Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb estimates the chain's value at £150 million. The business had revenues of £147 million last year and earnings before exceptional costs of £11.2 million.

FootAsylum targets 16 to 24-year-olds with "on trend" trainers and fashion. It stocks brands such as Adidas, Nike, New Balance, and Calvin Klein, as well as own-brand products under labels such as Glorious Gangsta and Condemned Nation.

FootAsylum currently has 60 stores across the UK but plans to use funds from its public listing to more than double that total to 150 stores across the UK, targeting eight to 10 new store openings a year.

CEO Clare Nesbitt said in a statement: "We see substantial opportunities ahead across our retail, online and wholesales channels, and believe that we have the people, products and strategy to realise them."

FootAsylum was founded in 2005 by David Makin, who cofounded JD Sports. John Wardle, the other cofounder of JD Sports, was CEO of FootAsylum from 2008 until 2015 and is currently chairman of the board.

Independent analyst Bubb said in an email on Monday morning: "It is a tribute to the strength of the JD Sports fashion footwear market that FootAsylum fancies its chances of getting an IPO away in the current High Street climate."

The company announced that Barry Bown, who was CEO of JD Sports from 2000 to 2014, will join FootAsylum's board as executive chairman in January 2018 when Wardle retires from the role.

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