British fashion retailer SuperGroup showed there was still life in the initial public offerings (IPO) market with an oversubscribed share offer valuing the firm at £395 million ($589 million). The firm behind the Superdry brand worn by celebrities such as soccer player David Beckham and High School Musical star Zac Efron said on Friday it had priced its share offer at 500 pence. The IPO is the first significant one in the British retail sector to succeed since Mike Ashley's Sports Direct floated in 2007 and comes just one month after British budget fashion retailer New Look postponed its offer blaming turbulent financial markets. Analysts said the success of the issue reflected SuperGroup's strong recent trading, good growth story, debt-free status and lack of private equity backing. Separately on Friday, British education technology group Promethean World and its owners raised 186 million pounds after pricing an IPO in the middle of an indicated range. SuperGroup trades from 39 stores in the UK and Ireland, 54 concessions in House of Fraser department stores, and also has a presence in Belgium, France, Scandinavia, the US and Australia. It is raising 120 million pounds from a “heavily oversubscribed” private placement to institutional investors and a small retail offer which starts on March 15. The firm's management, led by Chief Executive Julian Dunkerton, will share 105 million pounds of the proceeds, with the balance used to fund growth. The management's holding will fall to about 64.4 percent. Last month, the firm reported a 29 percent rise in like-for-like sales for the five weeks to Jan. 3. Unconditional dealings in SuperGroup, which is being advised by Seymour Pierce, are expected to start on March 24.
