The vacuum cleaning business Godfreys plans to galvanise the next stage of its expansion through an initial public offering. The chain of 209 outlets has 85 franchised stores. Four new company owned stores have opened in this financial year, with eight more scheduled. The IPO will raise $77.7 million through the issue of 28.2 million shares at a price of $2.75 per share, representing a forecast FY15 price earnings ratio of 9.05 times. The company will have an enterprise value of approximately $130.8 million.
Chairman Rod Walker said “The IPO heralds the next exciting phase of expansion for the Godfreys business following a period of robust growth under a revitalised management team which has developed a high performing sales culture and a well-deserved reputation for innovation.
“Godfreys’ future growth will be bolstered by continued enhancements to the product range, new store rollout and optimisation of our current store portfolio. The markets we service are expected to experience long term growth as the number of Australian households increases by an estimated 38 per cent between 2010 and 2031,” Walker said.
The company operates a fully integrated business encompassing design, development, sourcing, distribution, advertising and sales.
Godfreys was established more than 80 years ago and is one of the largest specialty retailers of domestic and commercial floorcare and associated cleaning products in the $1.3 billion Australian and New Zealand market.
Tom Krulis, CEO, said “Godfreys has unique product development and innovation capabilities, driven by a dedicated in-house development team enabling us to rapidly bring new products to market and leverage real time customer feedback.
“We have an active store rollout program in place with the recent successful opening of our new We Are Clean superstore concept in Traralgon, Victoria enjoying strong support, demonstrating the appetite for our stores in new geographic locations,” he added.
Godfreys’ products are also distributed through wholesale channels and an online platform.
The IPO opens on Tuesday, 2 December 2014 and will close on Friday, 5 December 2014, with trading on a deferred settlement basis starting on the ASX on Wednesday, 10 December 2014.