Cooks coffee completes ipo on london’s aquis stock exchange

The coffee shop franchisor wanted to raise £1.5mln in a placing and rights issue but in the end said it was floating with £0.5mln of new funds

Cooks Coffee Company Ltd, a New Zealand-based but UK-focused cafe chain, has completed its initial public offering (IPO) on London’s Aquis Stock Exchange after drumming up only a third of its intended fundraising.

The coffee shop franchisor, which with 111 outlets under its Esquires and Triple Two Coffee brands makes it the fourth-largest coffee chain in the UK behind Starbucks, Costa and Caffè Nero, had wanted to raise £1.5mln in a placing and rights issue but in the end said it was floating with £0.5mln of new funds.

VSA Capital acted as the company’s corporate adviser and broker.

Keith Jackson, executive chairman of Cooks and veteran of the New Zealand food sector, said: We are delighted to be coming to the Aquis Stock Exchange, raising capital for growth and expanding our shareholder base in the UK.

He said the company sees ‘considerable opportunities for further growth’ in the UK, as well as internationally, where it has three outlets at the end of July.

The Cooks Coffee franchise model promotes individual entrepreneurship and local community engagement, which appears to be resonating both with people who want to partner with us to open new sites and existing franchisees looking to grow their businesses through innovative new offerings, he said.

Jackson, who was CEO of Kiwi poultry group Tegel for 16 years, as well as holding senior roles at baker Ernest Adams and milk company Independent Dairy Producers, founded Cooks in 2008 via a merger of four companies.

He plans to expand its Triple Two chain initially in the UK and then internationally, as well as achieving growth through acquisitions and the appointment of new master franchises in new markets for both brands.