KKR-Backed Trainline Announces Plans to IPO in London

(Bloomberg) -- Trainline Plc, an online retailer for European rail tickets, has announced its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange over the next few months.

Backed by private equity firm KKR & Co., the company is planning a premium listing, and is planning to use the money raised to reduce its net debt, increase its brand awareness, and give existing shareholders the opportunity to cash out.

A date for the listing is still “being ironed out,” and will likely be set before the summer, Trainline’s Chief Financial Officer Shaun McCabe said on a call with reporters Wednesday.

KKR acquired London-based Trainline in January 2015 for an undisclosed amount from Exponent Private Equity LLP, preempting an IPO that would have valued the firm at about 500 million pounds ($633 million), people familiar with the matter said at the time. The retailer works with 220 rail and coach companies to offer customers fares for travel in 44 countries.

Trainline was recently valued at close to 1.5 billion pounds, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the valuation is confidential.

Such a valuation would make Trainline’s IPO the biggest U.K. listing of the year to date, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Financial services firm Finablr Plc, which went public last week, went to market with a value of 1.2 billion pounds.

In an interview on Wednesday, Clare Gilmartin, Trainline’s chief executive officer, wouldn’t comment on a company valuation but said that "peers-wise, you should look at other marketplace platform businesses. Companies like Just Eat would be a good benchmark."

While an IPO would consist of primary and secondary share sales, senior leadership would keep hold of their stock "for the most part," she said.

McCabe said the company was aiming to raise about 50 million pounds from the primary sale, but the secondary sale would be larger. He declined to comment further. No dividend would be paid "for the foreseeable future," he added.

The company increased its reach across Europe in 2016 with the acquisition of Captain Train, one of the most popular Continental rail ticket resellers. Expansion into Japan and North America is planned, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Gilmartin, an ex-VP at EBay Inc. who’s run the ticket firm since 2014, said there was huge growth headroom in the U.K., Europe and internationally, and wouldn’t rule out possible acquisitions following the IPO.

"If you scan the landscape globally we are the leading rail and coach platform and there’s very little else of scale," she said. "I wouldn’t rule anything out going forward, but it wouldn’t be hugely significant."

European IPOs have declined this year amid market jitters, exacerbated in the past week by the U.S.-China trade dispute. Only 44 offerings have been priced in Europe, less than half as many as at this stage of 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company also receives 80 million visits each month, according to the filing on Wednesday, and repeat customers generate about 80% of total sales.

Revenue for fiscal-year 2019 was 210 million pounds ($266.6 million) it said, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 53 million pounds.

J.P. Morgan Securities Plc and Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc will act as joint bookrunners for the listing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nate Lanxon in London at nlanxon@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Stefan Nicola

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