Just-Eat curries investor favour for £900m float
JUST-EAT beefed up its boardroom yesterday with senior hires from BSkyB and Hammerson ahead of a float next month, adding to the swelling ranks of firms looking to list in London.
The 13-year-old business, which was founded in Denmark by entrepreneur Jesper Buch, said BSkyB chief financial officer Andrew Griffith would join the firm as senior independent non-executive director. He will be joined by Hammerson non-executive Gwyn Burr, in a move designed to enhance the company’s non-executive boardroom gravitas to attract investors.
The business is currently led by chief executive David Buttress, who was recruited by Buch in 2006 from Coca-Cola to help drive the UK business.
Insiders say interest in the company, which hopes to raise £100m of new cash, has been good due to the cash generative nature of the business.
“This management can present well and communicate well. They’re passionate and it’s not a business born yesterday,” one said.
Scores of existing Just-Eat’s existing shareholders are also set to sell down stakes in the company.
Index Ventures, Vitruvian Partners, Redpoint Ventures, SM Trust and Greylock Partners – as well as the firm’s senior management and former employees – will offload part of their investment to outside investors.
The impending injection of mutual and hedge fund cash into the company follows a long period of venture capital backing for the company.
Just-Eat raised £10.5m from Index Ventures and Venrex Investment Management in 2009 and further $48m from Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures in 2011. It added Vitruvian Partners to its list of backers in 2012 with a fundraising of $64m.
Just-Eat is the latest company to join the stampede to London’s public markets this year.
A host of floats are set to take place before the end of the year, including House of Fraser and sandwich maker SSP in the summer alongside insurer Saga and B&M Retail.
BEHIND THE DEAL
GOLDMAN SACHS | RICHARD CORMACK
1 Cormack, 43 this year, was the man Goldman sent out to bat against furious politicians when the Parliamentary business select committee grilled bankers over the Royal Mail float
2 He was made partner at Goldman in 2012 and is currently co-head of European equity capital markets, sharing his duties with Christoph Stanger. Before that he handled equity markets in the UK, Holland and new markets like central and eastern Europe
3 Cormack previously worked on the listings of Countrywide, CVC Credit Partners and Al Noor Hospitals on the London market last year
Also advising…
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Cazenove are joint global co-ordinators, joint sponsors and joint bookrunners, while JP will also act as key adviser if Just-Eat floats on the high growth segment. Oakley Capital is co-lead manager and Torch Partners is an adviser to Just Eat. Brunswick is PR adviser.