By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
Dixon Hospitality will look to float an IPO when the market is ready, rather than adhering to a specific deadline, a spokesperson for the pub group has told TheShout.
Rumours have been swirling that the chances of the company floating an IPO have been dissipating, and that they are a potential takeover target. A spokesperson for Dixon Hospitality has cleared up the situation, stating that company does intend to float an IPO, but when they feel that the time is right, rather than sticking to a specific deadline.
“There’s been no change from our point of view. There was a quite a bit of buzz around the industry that we were going to float an IPO in the second half of this calendar year, but a combination of where the business is and looking at the market in general, suggests that it’s not the right time. In terms of our IPO plans, nothing has changed. Our strategy includes listing when the market is ready.”
The most pressing point of business is to ensure that recent acquisitions are operating within the group’s model, before floating.
“Dixon Hospitality just bought Beer DeLuxe, so we’ll integrate that into the business, then keep watching the market. We’re looking at target results and performance. Really nothing has changed from our end and it’s a constant read of the market.”
The spokesperson also mentioned that while the company will not be beholden to a deadline, they hope to list sooner rather than later.
“We are building a company that we believe will be listed and that’s absolutely still the plan. It’s the plan to do it in the nearer term rather than the longer term but a lot of that depends on things like getting acquisitions ready, making sure that the business is performing, that it’s all integrated and settled down, and then that the market is ready and receptive to it.
“It’s been a bit quiet out there, if you look at the number of IPOs that have got away, there hasn’t been many. So there’s a mixture of things for the final formula of when we list. From our point of view it’s business as usual and that hasn’t changed.”