Hollywood Bowl, which operates 54 tenpin bowling centres in the UK – the largest chain in the country – is heading for a stock market listing which values the business at approximately £280m.
The company has about a third of the UK market and is 85 per cent owned by Electra, a private equity company that will offload half of its shares in the flotation.
Hollywood Bowl was, until its acquisition by Electra in 2014, named The Original Bowling Company and the purchase price at that date was £91m. Electra subsequently bought Bowlplex in 2015 for £30m with 16 locations, five of which were sold off.
It was in 2010 that Hollywood Bowl was formed after pub group Mitchells & Butlers sold off its holding of 24 locations to rival QubicaAMF for £27m. The Hollywood Bowl revenues in 2015 rose nine per cent to £86m and in the six months to the end of March 2016, revenues rose again by another 25 per cent to £55m.
The bowling side of the company contributed 47 per cent of its revenues, with 28 per cent coming from F&B and 23 per cent from its amusement machines. Currently, the company is spending around £500,000 on refurbishing each of its locations and is planning to open another two this year in Derby and Southampton.
