CLOTHING retailer Quiz saw £36 million added to its market value in its first day of trading on London’s alternative investment market.
Quiz announced the details of its flotation last week, with the placing price of 161p valuing the Glasgow business at £200m.
It closed the day up 29p, or 18 per cent, at 190p.
The Ramzan family who founded the business are among shareholders who will divide up more than £90m following the flotation.
Speaking from the London Stock Exchange yesterday, chief executive Tarak Ramzan said: “It has been very exciting to see the share price up on the screen, it’s doing pretty well from what I hear. It’s been a great journey for us and this is the culmination of that.”
Having seen the share price jump 20 per cent in early trading, chief operating officer Sheraz Ramzan said he didn’t believe the company had been undervalued, adding that he was happy with the way the initial public offering was put together.
“Now that we’re public and have funds in the business we’ll be able to grow at a faster pace,” he said. “We’ve got forecasts and we’re looking to achieve that, deliver growth year after year.”
Tarak Ramzan opened the first Quiz shop in 1993 on Victoria Road in the south side of Glasgow. The flotation marks the culmination of an incredible turnaround for a business which Mr Ramzan relaunched through a pre-pack deal in 2009 after it fell into administration.
Quiz currently operates 73 stores and 167 concessions in the UK and Ireland. It also has 70 franchise stores across 19 countries.
“We started in 1993 in a 350 sq ft shop in the south side of Glasgow,” said Tarak Ramzan. “I had ambitions to become a national chain and over the years that evolved into becoming an international chain.”
Having never envisaged floating the business on the stock exchange, Mr Ramzan said he started to think about this strategy three years ago.
“It took a while to work out the best route for the company but I’m very happy and convinced this is the best route to achieve the vision we have for the company.”
Admission documents show £10.6m raised by the flotation will be invested in its growth strategy. Selling shareholders took £92.1m.
The company grew revenue by 30 per cent last year to £90m.
It plans to grow this through international expansion, and increasing its online presence.
Operating in what it calls the ‘fast fashion value sector’, Sherez Ramzan said the business had the flexibility to respond to changes in the market.
“We’ve adopted an omni-channel model so we’re trading through online, international franchises, stores and concessions in department stores,” said
“Although we’re still growing store numbers the thrust of the growth is going to come from online and international, that’s where the focus is, going forward.”
Quiz was advised by Scottish law firm Maclay Murray & Spens.
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