Pugachev’s ambitious AIM designs

A company planning to invest in furniture brands and backed by prominent Russian tycoon Sergei Pugachev, a multimillionaire entrepreneur thought to have links to the Kremlin, has floated on AIM with a market price tag of almost £6 million. Brought to market by broker and adviser HB Corporate, Designcapital raised net proceeds of £4.1 million from a placing at 10p and may bring in a further £7 million over the next 12 months through deferred subscriptions.

Key shareholder Luxadvor, the Luxembourg-based investment vehicle of Pugachev, which recently acquired French gourmet foods company Hediard, plans to invest £3.4 million into Designcapital over the coming year, according to the company.

Frederick Bobo, executive chairman of Designcapital, argues that ‘the European luxury designer furniture industry is highly fragmented, with more than 200 relatively small companies with limited managerial and marketing capabilities’. Designcapital’s mission is to consolidate the market ‘by acquiring, nurturing and bringing to maturity aspirational luxury-design furniture brands and retail concepts’, becoming ‘the number one European design-focused investment company’.