Boohoo.com: 'The Time Is Right To Go Public'

The co-founder of fashion website Boohoo.com has publicly confirmed for the first time the company's intention to float on the London Stock Exchange this year.

Co-chief executive Carol Kane confirmed the plan to sell shares in the next two months during a rare interview with trade magazine Marketing Week.

Kane, who co-founded the Manchester-based business with Mahmud Kamani, said: 'The time is right. We've got to raise the profile of the brand to reflect our growing size and brand momentum.'

Boohoo is understood to be preparing to list its shares in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange's Aim market which is designed for smaller, fast-growing firms. Fashion rival Asos is still listed on Aim and has been for more than a decade.

A source separately told Drapers magazine this weekend: '[Boohoo is] very much committed to doing it [selling shares in an IPO] There are an awful lot of other retailers out there who are gearing up to do it, so the sooner the better.'

The magazine said the prospectus, justifying the stock price and detailing the company's plans and financial information to potential shareholders, would be sent out 'imminently'.

Boohoo claims to be the second biggest pureplay fashion retailer after Asos. Zeus Capital, which has an office in Manchester, has been appointed to market the business on behalf of its founders with a value of £500 million.

Kane told Marketing Week that the first non-English site was launched in France last October and more will launch in the coming financial year. Other countries in which the site is popular include Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Holland, Poland and Estonia - with a total of 35 per cent of sales generated overseas.

Boohoo, which launched a menswear collection in July, is in the process of recruiting its first marketing director and hopes to have the post 'filled very soon,' she said.

Boohoo filed accounts at Companies House in December showing sales in the year to last February grew 132 per cent to £67 million. It is understood to have grown at a similar trajectory since then.

For more on Boohoo, see our Online Retail Stars of 2013 Report: Boohoo.com.