Gartmore IPO to net 400m
FUND manager Gartmore is set to raise about £400m in a flotation later this month tipped to turn most of its 40 fund managers into overnight millionaires.
Gartmore and San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman are understood to be planning to sell shares at 250-330p each, valuing the firm at £800m at the mid-point of that range.
The company expects to issue about £280m worth of new shares, representing about 35 per cent of Gartmore’s expanded share capital, while Hellman & Friedman, company executives and other investors would sell £120m in stock.
Gartmore hopes to use the proceeds to pay £250m of its £400m debt and to hit the acquisition trail. Chief executive Jeffrey Meyer said the firm would look to buy medium-size boutiques whose skill sets complemented Gartmore’s expertise in hedge funds and European equities.
Hellman & Friedman owns 58 per cent of Gartmore and management and staff own the rest. Gartmore and bookrunners Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS will price the offering on 10 December.
A secondary offering will also allow Hellman & Friedman to reduce its stake and let staff sell shares. Around 100 of Gartmore’s 360 employees own 42 per cent of the firm, with star fund manager Roger Guy thought to own more than 10 per cent of the firm.