Jessops planning to float at £189m

JESSOPS, the camera store chain, is making another attempt to come to the stock market, this time with a value of up to £189m.

The flotation will land a big profit for its current owner, the private equity arm of Dutch bank ABN Amro.

The retailer, which has 260 stores up and down the country, said it plans a flotation at the end of the month pricing the shares at between 185p and 220p.

This will raise around £100m to pay down existing debt.

It comes four years after Jessops got close to getting to market before it got caught up in the post-technology boom meltdown.

Instead, its previous owner, Bridgepoint Capital which originally acquired the company for around £35m, also made a tasty profit selling the business to ABN Amro for £116m.

Shares in the company held by its management team led by chief executive Derek Hine will be worth around £9m.

Jessops also revealed today that it has hired Gavin Simonds, a 49-year-old former hotelier, as chairman. His portfolio of part-time jobs include the chairmanship of Peacocks, the discount retailer.

The company has also recruited William Rollason, 43, a former finance director of National Express, as a non-executive.