Hogg Robinson postpones floatation, says "no reason to accept a low price"

Business travel company Hogg Robinson has decided to delay its flotation.

The company had set an indicative price at 140p-220p a share, giving a market
value of £380m at the mid-point of that range. A spokesman for the company,
which is majority owned by private equity firm Permira, said the decision was
"not a commentary on the business itself but on the market in which it is
operating".
   
Hogg Robinson emphasised that its IPO had been delayed, rather than cancelled.
A source said: "This is still a bloody good business. It was not a fire sale and
there was no reason to accept a low price."
   
Sources close to Hogg Robinson, which has been controlled by Permira for six
years, cited factors including a weakening US economy, UK market jitters and a
failure by institutions to appreciate the resilience of the company's business
model, reported Times Online.
   
According to the Independent, the company has been forced to abandon its
planned £380m flotation, after investors took fright at possible cuts to
business travel budgets and signs of a US economic slowdown. "This was despite
the fact that some of the City's biggest names were behind the issue. The
combined might of Lazard, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Lehman
Brothers failed to get the float away. The company became the latest casualty
of volatile stock market conditions. The flood of listings expected this month,
after the stock market downturn that hit in May and June and continued over the
summer, has not transpired," it reported.