Gartmore Group Plans IPO On London's Main Market

U.K. fund manager Gartmore Group Ltd. said Friday that it plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, heading a widely expected wave of initial public offerings of businesses owned by private equity companies.

The company didn't say how much the IPO is expected to raise, but previous reports have put the figure at around GBP500 million.

Gartmore said proceeds from the listing will be used to reduce its net debt to GBP150 million.

The traditional equity and alternative asset management firm has GBP21.8 billion of assets under management and is owned by Hellman & Friedman.

Chief Executive Jeffrey Meyer said: "We believe that a stock market listing now is the logical next step in Gartmore's development. It will raise the profile of the group and provide benefits for our clients, shareholders and current and prospective employees. The fundamental prospects for our business are attractive and we have a clear strategy in place to deliver further growth."

The company said its net inflow of assets under management was GBP924 million in the third quarter. Revenue was GBP207.1 million and operating earnings were GBP38.1 million for the nine months ended September.

The IPO is expected to close in mid-December.

Hellman & Friedman backed a management buyout of Gartmore in May 2006 from Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., which kept the U.S. side of the business. The deal was valued at less than the GBP500 million to GBP600 million wanted by Nationwide, according to people close to the matter.

The balance of the company is held by fund managers and executives of the company.

BofA Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS Investment Bank are joint global co-ordinators, joint bookrunners and joint sponsors in the offer. Citi is acting as joint bookrunner and Fox-Pitt, Kelton is acting as co-lead manager.

-By Digby Larner, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1748; digby.larner@dowjones.com

(Marietta Cauchi contributed to this article.)