By Ben Martin
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) -Financial services business JTC Group is gearing up for a London stock market float that could value the private-equity backed firm at more than 300 million pounds ($414.33 million), according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Jersey-based JTC, which has buy-out house CBPE Capital as a minority investor, is working with stockbrokers Zeus and Numis to advise it on an initial public offering (IPO), the sources said.
The float could give the business a market capitalisation of about 320 million pounds, they added.
JTC is majority-owned by its employees and provides administration services to funds with $85 billion of assets, including private equity and real estate.
It has offices in 17 jurisdictions around the world, including sites in London, the Cayman Islands, Mauritius and New York, has about 550 staff and was founded 31 years ago.
CBPE, which has been an investor in the business since 2012, and JTC declined to comment.
JTC would follow investment services business IntegraFin in eyeing a London float and its listing plans come despite the recent turmoil in global stock markets that have sent Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index down almost 8 percent from its January peak.
IntegraFin announced its intention to float last month, before the equity market sell-off, when the company was reportedly targeting a valuation of around 500 million pounds.
Cabot Credit Management, Britain's biggest debt collector, has also resurrected plans to list in London after abandoning an earlier attempt in November, Reuters reported on Feb. 2. JTC's potential share sale comes after London enjoyed a buoyant IPO market last year, when 106 floats raised 15 billion pounds, up from 5.7 billion pounds raised from 65 listings in 2016, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group .
But there were signs that investor appetite for floats was starting to wane in the final months of 2017, with broadcasting masts business Arqiva, like Cabot, pulling a share sale. Bakkavor, a ready meals supplier to Britain's largest supermarkets, also had to cut the price of its shares to get its float away in November. ($1 = 0.7241 pounds)
(Reporting by Ben Martin; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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