GUARDIAN (UK) – The founders of Hotel Chocolat have each made more than £20m after the chocolatier floated on the London stock exchange.
Hotel Chocolat’s placing valued the company at £167m, raising funds for the brand’s expansion in the UK and online.
The company, which has 81 shops in the UK, raised £55.5m through its listing on the Alternative Investment Market, with shares valued at 148p. Trading will begin on 10 May.
Of the £55.5m raised from the share placing, £12m will be used to speed up expansion plans, which include opening new shops and improving its website.
As well as its network of shops, Hotel Chocolat owns a cocoa plantation on St Lucia, which is home to a luxury hotel where a two-week stay costs up to £10,000.
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