Rumours have reached fever pitch on the topic of the challenger bank’s anxiously-anticipated stock market flotation.
B&C can confirm from sources close to the deal that the floatation is indeed to take place imminently.
Last week, Bloomberg carried reports from unnamed sources stating that the bank would start selling shares on the LSE "as soon as next week" – calling the floatation any day this week. The same story had the bank's valuation at "about 800 million pounds".
The Times of London, meanwhile, said on Friday that its valuation stood at "as much as £900 million” and Aldermore "is likely to wait until the result of the Scottish independence vote is known before launching the listing". It will, however, "start promoting" its shares to investors "in the next ten days” according to the daily broadsheet.
The referendum is this Thursday the 18th and the results will come out during the weekend - so between the account in the Times and that in Bloomberg - only one can be right.
Aldermore will be the second genuine challenger bank in Britain to go public after £413 million OneSavings Bank had its IPO this June to overall positive results. The float was predicted to raise around £41.5 million in gross proceeds for One Savings Bank. TSB Bank went public on its own only after it broke away from the embattled Lloyds.
"We refuse to comment on rumour and speculation," said Andy Homer, their PR agent, yesterday afternoon.
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