Ascential announces intention to float

Ascential, the information and events company, on Thursday announced plans to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The group - owned by private equity firm Apax and Guardian Media Group - aims to fetch a valuation of at least £800m in its initial public offering next month.

Ascential will sell at least 25% of its shares to raise a minimum of £200m, which will be used to pay down debt. The latest figures show that net debt was about £410m at the end of 2014.

The flotation comes amid a major reorganisation under chief executive Duncan Painter. The company has exited its radio and consumer publishing business and sold off its car industry data unit CAP.

Ascential was founded as East Midlands Allied Press before it went public and traded as EMAP until 2008 when the company was taken over by Apax and the Guardian for £1bn and renamed Top Right Group. Last year, the company was rebranded as Ascential.

The IPO will end the long-standing partnership between Apax and the publisher of the Guardian and the Observer.

The announcement of the flotation follows several months of talks about a potential sale of the group to a number of private equity firms.

Ascential’s events division runs the Cannes Lions advertising conference, while its business information unit owns trend-spotting website WGSN and trade magazines Draper’s and Retail Week.

In 2014, the company achieved adjusted profits of £85.3m in 2014, a 27% year-on-year rise, as revenues rose 9% to £312m.