Global Blue will float in Europe

GLOBAL Blue, the tax refund payment firm, is paving the way for a €4bn (£3.6bn) flotation at the turn of the year, possibly in London.

No location has yet been chosen for the initial public offering, although it will be a European stock exchange, The Daily Telegraph has learnt. The float looks set to take place in early 2018.

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley look likely to work on the float, although the selection process for advisers is still under way, with meetings taking place yesterday. It is understood that Global Blue started holding informal talks over the potential float a couple of months ago. The plans were first reported by Sky News.

The US private equity firm Silver Lake, which controls Global Blue together with Partners Group, typically holds investments for about five years. It invested in Global Blue in 2012.

Global Blue late last year signalled it had experienced a “turbulent year”, but last month suggested trading had picked back up. It mostly serves Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese travellers, and said it had been helped by low cost travel to Europe.