EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has confirmed plans to list his budget easyHotel group on the London Aim stock exchange.
The company hopes to raise £60 million for expansion through the initial public offering, which could value the business at £100 million, the Telegraph reported on Saturday.
The chain was established in 2004 and now has 19 hotels, including 17 operating as franchises.
Sir Stelios told the newspaper: “I see easyHotel as one of the best, most natural extensions of the easy brand from the airline.
“EasyHotel is raising money to accelerate growth at a much faster rate than I would have grown it as a private company, while enabling me to spend more time on my diversified portfolio of other investments.”
Company chief executive Simon Champion said: “We will have substantially more rooms in the next couple of years but we are not going to be bound by set targets. We are not going to rush, but we have a fantastic under-exploited brand.”
He said he was not concerned about recent wobbles in London’s IPO market which saw Saga’s flotation prove disappointing and retailer Fat Face to abandon its IPO.
The easyHotel plan was confirmed as foreign exchange group Travelex was sold to Bavaguthu Shetty, the billionaire owner of UAE Exchange, one of the biggest forex providers in the Middle East, for a deal which values the company at between £100 million and £1 billion.
Private equity firm Apax dropped plans to float Travelex in London after entering takeover talks and selling its 50.2% stake in the business.