Sports health brand Applied Nutrition priced its IPO at £350m, which is towards the bottom of its guided range but still a boost for the beleaguered London Stock Exchange.
The Liverpool-based firm, which is backed by sportswear giant JD Sports, raised £157.5m from the offering at a price of 140p per share.
The IPO valued Applied Nutrition at around £350m when it started conditional trading of shares on the LSE on Thursday. Unconditional trading is expected to start next Tuesday.
Last week, the firm set its IPO price range at between 136p and 160p per share, implying an estimated valuation of between £340m of £400m.
Thursday’s IPO comprised 112.5m shares from existing investors, including Applied Nutrition’s executives and JD Sports. Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa agreed to be a cornerstone investor.
Applied Nutrition’s debut offers a reprieve for London’s stock market, which has struggled with a drop-off in IPOs and a string of delistings in recent years.
The protein shake maker has become just the 10th firm to float in the capital this year. The 23 IPOs in 2023 marked the worst year for listings in almost three decades.
“As a homegrown UK business based in Knowsley, Liverpool, we could not be prouder to be listing on the London Stock Exchange,” said Thomas Ryder, Applied Nutrition’s chief executive.
“We are only scratching the surface of our growth opportunity, and this IPO positions us ideally for the next step of our development.”
The IPO has delivered a windfall to Ryder, a former scaffolder who founded Applied Nutrition in 2014.
Ahead of the IPO, Applied Nutrition named ex-Holland & Barrett chief Tony Buffin as a non-executive board member, while AJ Bell founder Andy Bell joined as its non-executive chair.
JD Sports Fashion acquired a 32 per cent stake in Applied Nutrition in 2021 before it launched in the US a year later.