Mothercare starts trading on AIM

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 12, 2021

Mothercare has moved its London Stock Exchange listing to the ‘junior’ Alternative Investment Market (AIM) after many years on the main market.

The move comes as part of its restructuring process that has seen it pivoting from a directly-operated retail model to one that sees it owning its brand but licensing retail out to various partners in the UK and abroad. The company shut its remaining 79 UK stores last year and cut around 2,500 jobs, as well as striking a deal for Boots to take over as its UK franchisee.

While AIM is a market with a lighter touch regulations-wise, and is also home to many smaller companies, a number of big names are also listed there. ASOS and Boohoo Group are probably the best known, but some other fashion companies have opted for AIM listings in recent periods. The two most recent include In The Style, which listed via an IPO, and N Brown, which itself switched from the main market to AIM late last year.

Mothercare didn’t provide any details on trading when it announced its AIM move, but said it would do so later this month.

But chairman Clive Whiley did say: “The admission to AIM marks the conclusion of this final phase of the refinancing and restructuring. This period of hard work, effort and forbearance by our staff and stakeholders has paid off, and Mothercare can look forward to a brighter and stable future once more.

“Our resilient performance through the pandemic bears out the robustness of the business today. We are not immune to the impact of the pandemic on our franchise partners’ operations around the world, but we arrive on AIM today in good shape. 

“Mothercare faces the future as a conservatively financed, cash generative and profitable business for the first time in many years. That is an exciting prospect for all of our staff and stakeholders.”