UK-based ‘lifestyle concierge’ raises £32m in flotation

MAJOR institutional investors including Old Mutual and Baillie Gifford have backed the flotation of ‘lifestyle concierge’ to the wealthy Ten Lifestyle.

The company, which has 20 offices globally and employs more than 700 people, sells holidays, theatre tickets, and meals at top restaurants to wealthy individuals and corporate clients.

Founded 20 years ago by Alex Cheatle, it raised a total of £32.2m in its IPO on Friday which included a £14.2m payout to its existing shareholders.

The shares, placed on the junior Aim market, were priced at 134p giving the company a market cap of nearly £105m. The shares are set to be tradeable on November 29. Listing documents suggest Cheatle has sold 2.93m shares, which could mean a £3.9m payout based on the price of the shares at IPO.

The float had been planned for earlier in the week but the group decided to reduce the amount it planned to raise by £10m. Cheatle said it had initially wanted to use this portion of the total raised to fund acquisitions but subsequently decided the pace of organic growth would be sufficient for the business in the near-term.

“If we want to make acquisitions in the future we will come back to the markets for the money,” Cheatle said.

He added the company had secured five of its six preferred institutional investors including Old Mutual, Baillie Gifford and Jupiter Asset Management.

Individuals can become members for £300 a month and companies, including private bank Coutts, pay for the service for which they then offer to their own clients.

Cheatle said this was the company’s revenue stream and that it did not add any commission to the items it sells.

He said the net proceeds from the flotation of £26m would be spent on further developing its website to improve the booking process for its customers.

The UK is the company’s biggest market at present but Mr Cheatle said the business was growing rapidly in the US and Asia.