Under Electra, which also owns stakes in Parkdean Resorts and TGI Fridays, Hollywood Bowl expanded to 54 sites around the country and last year bought smaller rival Bowlplex.
London-listed Electra, which will keep a 17.8 per cent stake in the business, has confirmed that Hollywood Bowl will go public on September 21. Electra had earlier ruled out a summer float due to the uncertainty caused by the EU referendum, reports The Telegraph.
The 160p-per-share placing is expected to net Electra and Hollywood Bowls’ management team, which will keep a 5.4 per cent stake, £181.3m in proceeds, two years after the private equity fund bought the bowling company for £91m.
Stephen Burns, Hollywood Bowl’s chief executive, said the float would help grow the business further. He said: “We’ve achieved a huge amount over the past few years, transforming the business through investment and acquisition.”
Hollywood Bowl posted £55m in sales in the six months to March 30, an 11.1 per cent rise on a like-for-like basis, which strips out the effects of new site openings. Adjusted profits hit £16.8m, up from £11m in the previous year.
Ten-pin bowing is the fastest growing segment of the £80bn leisure sector, according to consultancy firm Pragma, which said revenues grew 6 per cent last year against a wider 3 per cent rise in the industry.
Electra and Investec’s decision to pull the plug on a float after the Brexit vote mirrored moves by Telefonica, the telecoms firm which owns O2, to delay a London listing of the mobile network amid turbulent post-referendum markets.
Shares in FTSE 250-listed Electra increased 3pc on Friday morning to £42.48.
