The company, which employs 2,000 people, sells fast-fashion targeted at the under-25s. Blue Inc is also looking to build its international division. At present it has five franchise stores in the Baltics and two in Malaysia, and is in talks with possible partners in South America and the Middle East.
In 2013, Blue Inc generated sales of £120m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £5m.
The market listing might be salt in the wound for former Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, who stepped down as chairman because of a conflict of interest with retailer Fat Face where he is also chairman. However, Fat Face scrapped its IPO after institutional investors shunned the float after a poor performance from rival retailers.
Richard Rose, no relation to Sir Stuart, has stepped into the role as non-executive chairman, who chairs AO.com and cash-and-carry retailer Booker. Blue Inc has also bolstered its board by hiring Lord Leigh of Hurley, the Tory party treasurer and co-founder of Cavendish Corporate Finance. Cantor Fitzgerald is advising on the IPO.
The flotation comes on the back of weakening investor demand which has seen a raft of IPOs being priced at the bottom and still suffer lacklustre trading.
Leeds-based Clipper Logistics this morning missed its hoped-for price range entirely.
The company said this morning that shares would be priced at 100p despite originally telling investors they could take part in the IPO at a price range of 110p to 130p.
As a result the company, which distributes goods for blue chip retailers such as Asda, Morrisons, John Lewis and ASOS, has a valuation of £100m - £30m short of what it could have been worth.
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