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Most followed: Just Eat, Jimmy Choo, Alibaba, Vodafone, Persimmon, Angle, Telit

Last updated: 22:13 17 Mar 2014 AEDT, First published: 23:13 17 Mar 2014 AEDT

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Float fever has well and truly taken hold. Just Eat and Jimmy Choo have joined the throng of companies rushing to the stock market to raise cash in the UK, while China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba is drawing up the blueprint for an IPO in the US, which could be the biggest of all time.

Investors gobbled up plans for a listing from online takeaway delivery service Just Eat, which allows customers to order food online from their local restaurants.

The company believes the £100mln it is hoping to raise will help it grow its market share in the UK, as well as expand into new markets.

It did not reveal how much of the company would go on sale to the public, but it said it will “at least be consistent with the requirements of the chosen listing segment and may exceed such requirements in certain circumstances”.

Private equity backers SM Trust, Index Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Greylock Partners are all expected to cash in on the share sale.

“We have consistently delivered impressive results and built leading positions in several markets through a combination of a strong brand, a customer-centric culture and a passionate team,” said chief executive David Buttress.

“We see further opportunities ahead as we encourage more people to experience the benefits of online takeaway ordering.”

The owners of luxury shoe maker Jimmy Choo meanwhile have enlisted the help of the banks for its public offering.

The company, which is owned by Vienna fashion house Labelux, is reportedly in talks to list in a float that could value the company at up to £1 billion.

It could put up to 20% of the company up for public purchase.

The duo will join the long list of companies that have joined the stock market in London recently, including Poundland (LON:PLND), Pets at Home (LON:PETS) and Boohoo.com (LON:BOO).

Alibaba confirmed it will snub the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in favour of Wall Street, but has not yet decided which of the NYSE or the tech-laden Nasdaq is a more suitable destination.

Analysts reckon the group could raise as much as $15bn, valuing it at between $150bn and $200bn.

The upper end of that bracket would make Alibaba the second most valuable internet company behind Google, which has a market capitalisation of $394bn.

The company said the listing will “make us a more global company and enhance the company’s transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to pursue our long-term vision and ideals”.

Away from new listings, there was also a buzz surrounding mobile telecoms giant Vodafone (LON:VOD) after its deal to buy Spain’s largest cable operator Ono for £6bn.

It follows last year’s acquisition of Kabel Deutschland.

Housebuilders were also on the investor wish list as George Osborne unveiled plans to expand the Help to Buy scheme in Wednesday’s Budget.

Persimmon (LON:PSN), up 3.8% to 1,363p, Bovis Homes (LON:BVS), up 4.5% at 893p, and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.), up 3% at 119p, were among the biggest risers in the sector.

In the small cap world, Angle (LON:AGL) shares were in demand, up 4% at 92.6p, with large volumes of the share changing hands.

The company has applied for US clearance for its cancer diagnostics system Parsortix.

The group received the regulatory green light in Europe as it acquired the CE Mark in December for the device, which can harvest circulating tumour cells found in the blood.

Approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) could come as early as the third quarter, but as ANGLE points out “no guarantees can be made around the exact timing of authorisation”.   

The market also dialled in to Telit Communications (LON:TCM), up 8% at 208p. Growing adoption of the ‘internet of things’ helped it more than double profits last year.

The group, which specialises in machine to machine (M2M) communications, was also boosted by the acquisitions of ILS Technology and growth in its cloud-computing based service arm. It is currently in the process of buying telematics business ATOP.

Revenues in the year to December rose by 17% to US$243mln, with a 25% jump in the final quarter to US$72.3mln as the benefits of ILS kicked in.


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