Time Out owner hopes flotation will raise £90m to fund expansion

THEGUARDIAN

AIM listing, expected to value business at £185m-£225m, has reportedly attracted investors including fund manager Neil Woodford

 Oakley Capital, which has a controlling stake in Time Out, is reportedly planning to put more money into food markets in cities including Berlin and London. PhotoTime Out, the leisure and listings magazine turned digital media business, has announced an intended stock market flotation expected to value the company at between £185m and £225m.

Oakley Capital, which owns 76% of Time Out, said it plans to raise about £90m to fund expansion and repay £25m of net debt with the share sale.

Tony Elliott produced the first edition of Time Out on his mother’s kitchen table while on summer vacation from Keele University in 1968. From counter-cultural roots it grew to be the main lifestyle and listings magazine for London and expanded into New York and other cities in the 1990s.

Elliott sold a controlling stake to Oakley, a private equity firm, in 2010 to ease financial pressures and gain funding for digital development but he still owns 10% of the company.

Oakley has invested heavily in the loss-making business, including taking its print magazine free in London, New York and Chicago, investing in digital formats and launching a successful food market in Lisbon.

Oakley initially said in late April it was planning a stock market listing on London’s AIM market for Time Out. Peter Dubens, Oakley’s founder, is expected to be non-executive chairman, and Julio Bruno, the former TripAdvisor executivehired to run Time Out last October, is lined up as chief executive.

The company is expected to lose money for the next few years as it puts more money into food markets, digital products and marketing activity, Sky News reported. But with 111 million people using its products globally, the company is reported to have attracted Neil Woodford, Britain’s best-known fund manager, to take a significant stake, Sky said.

Lord Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer who chairs the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, is likely to sit on Time Out’s board. The company has identified sites for food markets in Berlin, London, Miami, New York and Porto.