Applied Nutrition flotation to give City a pick-me-up

Applied Nutrition, the sport supplement company, is due to unveil plans to list on the London Stock Exchange this week.
The business is preparing to announce its intention for an initial public offering on Monday, expected to be worth £500 million. It could become one of the City’s most closely followed floats this year.
Applied Nutrition, which has grown from a start-up in Liverpool to an international supplier of nutrition supplements for athletes and fitness fans, already has the backing of investors such as Peter Cowgill, the former JD Sports boss. Andy Bell, the founder of investment platform AJ Bell, is the company’s chair.
The business was started in 2014 by Tom Ryder and today employs more than 200 people. It sells protein and collagen powders in more than 80 countries.
Ryder, who grew up on a Liverpool council estate and trained as a scaffolder, sold supplements as a sideline before taking it up it full time at the age of 24. He switched from retailing to wholesaling and started Applied Nutrition in 2014.
Bankers at Deutsche Numis are handling the float. The IPO could also be open to retail investors via the broker RetailBook, according to Sky News, which reported the plans. This would enable ordinary retail investors to acquire the stock at the IPO price.
Shares sold by companies during public flotations are often only offered to institutional investors such as pension funds or wealth managers, meaning only big investors benefit if the stock rises when it starts trading, a so-called IPO pop.
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A new listing would be welcome news for the London market. The City is trying to tempt more fast-growing companies to list in the UK following a period when flotations have been scarce.
Last year Arm Holdings, the Cambridge chip designer, opted to float in New York rather than London despite a charm offensive by City representatives and government officials.
Some investors have blamed Britain’s tight listing rules for dissuading companies from having a London IPO. The Financial Conduct Authority, the City regulator, has laid the groundwork for a shake-up of listing rules to help the equity market attract and retain more companies. There are also plans to loosen rules that govern the rights and information given to shareholders when companies float.
This summer Raspberry Pi, the microcomputer developer, bucked the trend by listing on the London Stock Exchange at 280p a share. Last week the stock closed at 389p, a rise of 39 per cent since listing, following its first set of half-year results which showed a 61 per cent rise in sales to $144 million and a pre-tax profit of $10.8 million.
Applied Nutrition declined to comment. Deutsche Numis and RetailBook were asked to comment.