Les Mills going public

Press, 13 July 1985, Page 21

Les Mills going public

Les Mills Fitness, Ltd, the Auckland-based fitness and jazzercise group, is proposing to raise $5.5 million through a public issue and seek Stock Exchange listing. The company, run by Les Mills, the former Olympic and Commonwealth Games representative for New Zealand in the shot put, will issue 11 million 20c shares at a premium of 30c each. Of the total capital sought, S3M will be raised from the public. The Mills family will hold 45 per cent of the issued capital of the new group, plus retain 2.5 M options, which will be able to be exercised at 60c a share on, or before, September 30, 1987. The existing Les Mills Group has fitness centres in the main New Zealand cities, and at Sydney and Newcastle, in Australia. The chairman of the new company, Sir Laurence Stevens, said that the Mills Group, under the leadership of Les Mills, had set the tone of the modern fitness industry and pioneered many features of it — including exercise to music. The float allocation will buy 5M shares for the vendors, 300,000 shares for staff, trading associates, and friends of the vendors, 1.5 M shares for the public pool, and 4.2 M shares for allocation from brokers. Mr Les Mills will be managing director of the public company, and Mrs Colleen Mills, executive director. The other directors are Sir Lawrence, Mr Anthony Frankham, the chairman of the council of the New Zealand Society of Accountants, and Mr Denham Shale, the company’s solicitor.