Gartmore IPO share price lower than expected

Gartmore Group today announced an offer price of 220p per ordinary share for its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at around £676m.

The company cut its initial price range to 220-250p per share from 250-330p per share, with reports saying it is expecting to raise around £340m rather than the original £400m it hoped to raise in London's biggest public offering of the year.

Its money-raising initiative will be used to repay the group's debt and fund the company's future growth.

The global offer consists of a primary offer of 127.3m new ordinary shares and 27.3m existing ordinary shares, representing in aggregate just over half of the 307.3m ordinary shares in issue.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank are joint global co-ordinators, bookrunners and sponsors. Citi is joint bookrunner and Fox-Pitt Kelton co-lead manager.

As stabilising manager, UBS Limited has been granted an over-allotment option up to 23.2m ordinary shares, representing 15% of the ordinary shares in the global offer.

The net proceeds of the primary offer of approximately £268m will, together with a portion of existing surplus cash resources, be used to repay around £315m of the group's debt.

Jeffrey Meyer, Gartmore chief executive officer, says: "The IPO represents the logical next step in the development of Gartmore. I am delighted to welcome our new investors and I look forward to working for all shareholders and delivering on our strategy for further
growth."