Having grown revenue from £641.5 million in 2011 to £880.5 million in 2013, Poundland is set to become a public company.

Established back in 1990, discount retailer Poundland, which describes itself as a ‘single price value general merchandise retailer’, now has over 500 locations in the UK and Ireland.

The company’s CEO, Jim McCarthy, says that the value retail sector is now a mainstream feature of the UK retail market.

‘We have built a track record of delivering strong, profitable growth and I believe we have many more opportunities ahead, underpinned by our trusted brand, strong supplier relationships, differentiated value proposition and our well-invested and scalable infrastructure,’ he adds.

Although Poundland has not disclosed how much it plans to raise by listing, the business has said that the IPO will comprise an offer of shares to certain institutional investors in the UK and elsewhere outside the United States – a country where only qualified institutional buyers will be involved.

Poundland will have a free float of ‘at least’ 25 per cent of the issued share capital of the company, with the admission expected to take place in March 2014.

Back in May 2010, Poundland was subject to a secondary buy-out led by US private equity firm Warburg Pincus. The investor bought the stake for an undisclosed amount from Advent International.

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As part of the market move, Poundland has secured the services of four new non-executive directors. Darren Shapland, Trevor Bond, Tea Colaianni and Grant Hearn will be taking up roles.

Commenting on the hires, Poundland chairman Andy Higginson says, ‘That Poundland has attracted non-executive directors of their calibre is a testament to the strength of the business.

‘I believe we now have an excellent board to take the company into its next phase as a public company.’

Going forward, Poundland is planning long-term to have more than 1,000 store in the UK as well as trialling its Irish Dealz store offering in Spain over a two-year period.

Currently, Poundland reports that the payback on one of its new stores is around 12 months.