The owner of Young’s Seafood is considering a move onto the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is in talks with investment bankers about starting preparations for an initial public offering (IPO), reports Sky News.

Eight Fifty Food Group, which was formed following the acquisition of Young's by the giant pork processing business Karro in July 2019, is itself owned by the private equity firm CapVest.

If it the IPO goes ahead, a float is expected to take place next year at the earliest, said Sky News, although people close to the situation cautioned that there was no definitive timetable for a process.

Eight Fifty Food Group has annual sales of approximately £1.4 billion (€1.5 billion/$1.8 billion) and employs more than 7,500 people across 19 sites in the UK and Ireland.

Sky News added it was unclear whether CapVest might also seek to gauge the interest of potential buyers of the company, alongside the preparations for a stock market listing.

"We don’t comment on rumour or speculation," an Eight Fifty Food Group spokesperson said in a statement sent to IntraFish.

"As a major food group made up of Karro Food Limited and Young’s Seafood we continue to focus on providing great food to customers across pork and seafood.

“We are excited about the ongoing opportunity to create an ambitious multi-protein food business of considerable scale with a combined platform in two important protein categories that are experiencing consistent long-term growth."

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