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Sportswear retailer Footasylum steps higher on first day of trading

Published: 06:06 02 Nov 2017 EDT

footasylum store
Footasylum was set up by JD Sports co-founder David Makin back in 2005

Footasylum PLC (LON:FOOT) stepped higher on its first day of dealings as an AIM-listed company with investors keen to get in on the action.

Shares in the sport fashion and footwear retailer were sold at £1.64 to institutions as part of the initial public offering but are already being offered at 202p early on Thursday morning.

READ: Footasylum confirms £170mln IPO

The IPO raised about £45mln for the company itself, which it will use to fund its expansion plans.

The other £20mln raised from the sale went to the selling shareholders who are the two founders of JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD), David Makin and John Wardle, and their families.

Even after the float, the Makin family still holds a 63% stake worth around £131mln based on the current share price.

READ: JD Sports founders set for big payday as Footasylum unveils plans to float on AIM

Set up back in 2005 by JD founder

Wardle and Makin pocketed around £45mln after they sold out of JD Sports – which still bears their first initials – back in 2005.

Makin used his chunk of the proceeds almost immediately to set up Footasylum and was joined three years later by his former business partner.

Footasylum, which generated underlying earnings of £11.2mln on revenues of £147mln last year, focuses on premium ‘on-trend’ footwear and apparel and stocks brands such as Calvin Klein, Nike and Adidas, as well as several lines of own-brand products.

There are currently 60 stores across the UK but it plans to use some of the funds from the IPO to more than double that figure to 150, targeting between eight and ten new openings a year.

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