Fashion for Old Women
The fashion retailer for women in their fifties Bonmarche is set to go on the stock exchange on the 20 November (Reuters) Reuters

Bonmarché, the women's fashion retailer aimed at the over-50s, expects to raise £40m from its initial public offering on London's alternative investment market.

The shares are priced at 200p for the sale which will be handled by Investec, and is scheduled for 20 November.

Chief executive Beth Butterwick said she was "delighted" that news of Bonmarché's flotation had been "successfully received".

"We would like to welcome our new shareholders and are looking forward to the next stage in the development of the business as a publicly quoted company," she said.

Bonmarché, which was founded in 1982, was acquired by an affiliate of Sun European Partners in January 2012, after previous owner Peacocks went into administration.

The group has a customer database of 6.5m members and divides its sales between 264 stores, a website, mail-order catalogue and TV shopping channel.