Boohoo to start trading on AIM with 560m pound valuation

14th Mar 2014 07:19

Online fashion group Boohoo.com was due to start trading on the AIM market on Friday with a market valuation of about 560m pounds.The group, which aims to follow in the footsteps of rivals such as Asos, has raised £300m by placing shares with institutional and other investors at a price of 50p per share.It plans to use £50m of the money to invest in warehousing and IT to expand its business.The group intends to use the rest of the cash to repay convertible loan notes held by the company's current shareholders, who include founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane among others.Boohoo, which is targeting fashion-conscious 16-24 year-olds, sells its products in more than 100 countries and plans to develop more country-specific local language websites alongside its existing English and French sites.Zeus Capital is acting as nominated advisor and sole broker to the company.Kamani said: "The IPO of boohoo.com marks an exciting milestone in the company's development and will support us in our continued ambition to provide high quality, fast fashion at affordable prices for our fashion-conscious customers around the world. "We view the support from investors as a strong endorsement of the company's growth plans."PW