PRESS: Dusk Retail cancels plan to IPO in London, will remain private
(Alliance News) - Dusk Retail Ltd has cancelled its plan for an initial public offering in London, Sky News reported Monday.
The Leeds, England-based online homeware products retailer had been expected to be worth around GBP300 million upon admission, similar to the current market capitalisation of GBP325.7 million for rival DFS Furniture PLC.
The company will remain privately owned, deciding against pursuing an IPO for the foreseeable future.
Sky News previously reported in June that Dusk was considering a London IPO, with a source saying that they expected Founder & Executive Chair Jason Walker to remain a major shareholder.
In July, Sky News reported that Dusk had chosen Panmure Liberum and Zeus to lead the London float, which had been slated to take place later in 2026.
London's IPO market in 2026 remains lacklustre as de-listings outpace flotations. Recently, several large-cap London-listed companies have been subject to takeovers.
FTSE 100 firm and asset manager Schroders PLC in February accepted a GBP9.9 billion cash takeover from Pantheon LLC, an acquisition vehicle of Chicago-based asset manager Nuveen, which is in turn owned by Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America.
In early March, insurer Beazley PLC said it had accepted a GBP8.2 billion takeover approach from Zurich Insurance Group.
In July, maker of food and beverage ingredients Tate & Lyle PLC announced that its shareholders have voted in favour of its GBP2.7 billion acquisition by US peer Ingredion Inc.
In August, Apollo won a bidding race for airline firm easyJet PLC against private equity firm Castlelake, with a deal worth GBP5.7 billion that values each easyJet share at 715 pence.
The same month, Segro PLC agreed to a share and cash takeover offer from US peer Prologis Inc that values the London-based warehouse property investor at GBP14 billion.
In early September, Bodycote PLC, a Macclesfield, England-based thermal processing company, accepted a proposal from New York-based private equity firm Veritas, which values Bodycote at GBP1.65 billion on a fully diluted basis, and an enterprise value of GBP1.85 billion.
Also in September, Gamma Communications PLC, a cloud communications and voice services provider, accepted a takeover offer from Epiris GP III Ltd funds. The offer values Gamma's share capital at about GBP1.02 billion, with an implied enterprise value of approximately GBP1.08 billion.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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