OREANDA-NEWS. Gear4music, one of the largest UK based online retailers of musical instruments and music equipment, today announces its intention to float on AIM ("Admission") via a placing of its shares ("Placing").

Founded in 1995 by Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wass, Gear4music Limited, the Group's main trading company, has been profitable since its launch as "Gear4music" in 2003 and has accelerated its revenue growth during the last two years from ?12.3 million in the year ended 28 February 2013 ("FY13") to ?24.2 million in the year ended 28 February 2015 ("FY15").

As one of the fastest growing UK based retailers within this sector, the Directors believe the Group is well positioned to take advantage of a fragmented UK market, and the ongoing shift from high street to online retail across Europe.

Panmure Gordon is acting as Financial Adviser, Nominated Adviser and Broker to Gear4music.

Key Strengths

·     Track record of success - long term sales and market share growth

o  Revenues have increased every year since launch in 2003

o  Momentum stepped up following additional investment in 2012

o  37% like for like ("LFL") sales growth in FY15

o  Strong European growth validates website roll-out strategy

o  Over 590,000 registered customers

·     Bespoke and proprietary ecommerce platform delivers competitive advantage

o  Gear4music has developed its own ecommerce platform as an end-to-end solution encompassing all trading aspects of its operation

o  Currently supports 19 websites in 15 languages and 8 currencies

o  Ability to respond to changing customer behaviours and expectations

o  Capability to expand into new markets

o  Capacity to handle significantly increased volumes and website traffic

o  Additional functionality in development

·     Specialist knowledge facilitates strong relationships with customers and suppliers

o  Strong, committed and experienced management team

o  Employees with in-depth specialist knowledge

o  Expertise means the Group is trusted by major musical instrument and music equipment brands

o  Offers a wide range of choice to customers and provides specialist advice during and after the sales process

·     Well-developed product ranges

o  Over 27,000 products from over 550 brands

o  Reputation for quality and value for money

o  Over 1,400 own-brand stock-keeping units ("SKUs"), developed over a 12 year period

o  Provide enhanced margin opportunities as volumes increase

o  LFL own brand product sales grew by 27% during FY15 and accounted for 29% of revenues in FY15

·     Ample distribution capacity and efficient logistics systems

o  Operates from a modern 135,000 square foot building on the outskirts of York

o  Highest number of orders dispatched in a single day was 4,103 on 15 December 2014

o  Directors estimate the premises in their current format provide sufficient capacity to dispatch in excess of 10,000 orders per day

o  The most appropriate courier delivery services are automatically selected from more than 600 permutations depending on the weight, size, value and destination of the goods being purchased

Gear4music Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Wass, said:

"Over the last 12 years, we have established ourselves as one of the largest UK based online retailers of musical instruments and music equipment and are well placed to build on the positive momentum we have generated to date, particularly over the last two years, which have seen our revenues almost double and our European business expand significantly.

We are very excited about this next stage in our development, with our forthcoming flotation on AIM enabling us to develop further our bespoke ecommerce platform, invest in additional marketing initiatives, extend the range of products we stock and open a flagship showroom in central London."