Great float race gets under way

FLOTATiON fever is gripping the City and corporate financiers are licking their lips in anticipation. Think of those multi-million-pound fees.

With the outlook for the global economy l ooking brighter by the day and share prices in fine fettle, Merlin entertainments is reported to be gearing up for a £3bn-plus stockmarket listing before Christmas.

Merlin pulled a previous listing plan in 2010 at the eleventh hour due to market volatility, but private equity owners of the group, which owns Legoland and Madame Tussauds, are planning to go ahead this time. They intend to offer more than 10pc of its shares to retail investors.

Merlin is owned by Blackstone and CvC alongside the Kirkbi family investment firm, which controls Lego Group.

Around 50pc of earnings come from outside europe, with recent openings in Japan, Thailand and China.

Zoopla, Britain’s secondbiggest online estate agent, which i s controlled by DMGT, publisher of the Daily Mail, could also be in line for a stockmarket listing. The company has hired i nvestment bank Credit Suisse to explore strategic growth opportunities.

Analysts say a flotation would value the company north of £1bn. Meanwhile, dealers still await the precise timing of the Government’s planned £3bn flotation of the Royal Mail, in what could be the largest privatisation for two decades. An ‘intention to float’ notice, confirmation of a list- ing by the Royal Mail, has yet to be released but could come this week.

This document would kickstart the process, with shares of the Royal Mail trading on the London Stock Market within weeks.

Shares will be offered to City investors, the public and staff. Speculation suggests its army of postal workers could be in for a windfall of about £2,000 each.

Directors of Foxtons, the upmarket estate agent, are expected to earn a windfall of up to £100m from its proposed £500m flotation, prici ng details of which are believed to be imminent.

Private equity owner BC Partners will be selling some of its stake in the firm, which it acquired at the height of the property boom in 2007 for £360m. Foxtons, which typically sells properties in the £200,000 to £1.4m price bracket, has said it will use the sale proceeds to repay its outstanding debts.

Other well-known names believed to be talking to advisers about a possible return to the stock market include retailers DFS and House of Fraser.