Senior executives at greeting card retail chain Card Factory,which raised £287 million when floated on the stock exchange by private equity owner Charterhouse, have reaped £54 million between them.
Creative director Stuart Middleton sold a third of his stake in the business for £21.7 million,head of property Anthony Barraclough sold 50 per cent of his stake and made £18.5 million, while chief executive Richard Hayes took £14 million. Charterhousesold £130m of stock.
Despite these windfalls, Card Factory’s performance as it entered the stock market was disappointing, being valued at the bottom end of its range at 225p (£766.6 million) and failing to reach its hoped for £800 million valuation.
Shares fell 11 per cent in the first two days of trading, meaning Card Factory was one of the least impressive performers amidst a clutch of retail IPOs to have taken place year, which also include Pets at Home and Poundland.
Unconditional trading in the company starts this week.
