Homebase paves way for flotation

HOMEBASE has appointed financial advisers to draw up plans for a stock market debut - little more than a year after being sold by Sainsbury.

The DIY operation is understood to have picked investment bank Schroder Salomon Smith Barney to lead the team, which will pave the way for a share sale, probably before the end of the year.

The flotation of Homebase will mark a spectacularly quick profit for Schroder Ventures, now called Permira, which financed the buyout from Sainsbury.

The deal was struck in December 2000 and completed only in March last year. Homebase is aiming for profits of more than £100 million this year on sales of £1.4 billion.

City's flotation fever