Fashion retailer Bonmarché makes solid debut on London Stock Exchange

High street retailer raised £40 million in its initial public offering

Fashion retailer Bonmarché makes solid debut on London Stock Exchange

Women's fashion chain Bonmarché started trading as a public company today amid accusations it was undervalued.

Shares in the company rose about 10% to 220p on London’s junior AIM market as it became the latest company to go public this year. The initial public offering raised £40 million for the high street retailer, which has 264 stores and was bought out of administration by Sun Capital Partners last year.

Veteran retail analyst Nick Bubb described the valuation handed to the company as being “underwhelming”.

“After a further look at the admission document, it seems even harder to explain, as the group had over £10 million in net cash at the end of September,” he added.

Meanwhile, Infinis, the energy group listed by Guy Hand’s Terra Firma last week at 260p, settled at around 270p during its first day of unconditional trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Applied Graphene Materials, which was spun out of Durham University, surged 31% on its debut on AIM.