UMBRO has announced plans to float on the London Stock Market in a move likely to value the England kit supplier at about £200m.
Umbro is planning a June listing, as the group builds on the revival in its brand following the arrival of a new management team five years ago.
Targets for the group include to develop a presence in the branded footwear market, as well as to expand the business in the US.
Umbro supplies playing and training kits to the England football team, and is also associated with 150 leading professional clubs worldwide, including Chelsea and Olympique Lyonnais, in France.
Alan Shearer and Michael Owen are among 170 players who endorse the Umbro brand.
The flotation, involving the offer of new and existing shares to institutional investors, will allow Doughty Hanson - the venture capital company that owns 83 per cent of Umbro - to get a return on its £90m investment in 1999.
The move will also leave Umbro's chief executive Peter McGuigan, who has an eight per cent holding, with a stake worth about £10m.
Mr McGuigan said: "Umbro has been transformed over the past five years and is now well placed to benefit from the growing international interest in football.
"Umbro's flotation will allow us to strengthen our brand profile and accelerate our international strategy."
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