Joules float to bag founder £60 million

The founder of rural fashion and lifestyle retailer Joules will land a £60 million payday when the company lists on AIM this week.

Joules’ shares, which will begin trading on the junior market on Thursday, have been priced at 160p a share, giving the company, known for its quirky wellington boots, a market value of £140 million.

The deal will raise £77.5 million, of which £11.5 million will be used to pay down an outstanding shareholder loan note. The remaining cash will be split between the brand’s creator Tom Joule, private-equity investor LDC and other staff members.

Joule will retain a 32.2% stake in the business that he began in the nineties by selling colourful, velvet-trimmed polo shirts at county shows.

The IPO is part of a strategy to roll out more stores in the UK and Ireland, grow internationally and expand its product range.

Joules, which is also stocked in John Lewis, Harrods and Selfridges, said sales in the nine months to the end of February were up 18.2% year-on-year, defying the recent High Street gloom.