Proposals to float Virgin Active

Sir Richard Branson is said to be in discussions with a number of potential financial advisors to list Virgin Active on the stock exchange next year.

Virgin Active is Branson’s Health Club chain which was launched in 1999. In 2006, the group acquired Holmes Place and there are currently 167 Virgin Active clubs worldwide.

Plans to list Virgin Active come after the firm listed its Virgin Mobile USA business in New York last month. If plans to float Virgin Active proceed, it could value the chain at £1 billion.

Virgin group owns 75% of Virgin Active and management owns 10%. The remainder is held by Bridgepoint Capital and Permira, the private equity groups left in from their sale of Holmes Place.

A flotation would be ideal for Bridgepoint and Permira, which have little interest in remaining minority shareholders in an illiquid, privately-held company. However, a trade sale would also allow them to exit.

In early October, Virgin Group emerged as the latest bidder to make a move on crisis-torn bank Northern Rock. The group is looking to take a controlling stake in the bank with the backing of investors in the US and the Middle East.

If this proceeds, Northern Rock would retain its stock market listing but would be renamed Virgin Money.

Story link: Proposals to float Virgin Active