Department store giant valued at £2bn
Debenhams has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.

The department store group is expected to be valued between£1.7 billion and£2 billion. Ordinary share prices will be set between 195p and 250p.

Private equity backers CVC, Merril Lynch and Texas pacific bought the company in 2003 and will retain a significant share when the retailer refloats.

The store group also disclosed that its performance since the end of the last financial year compared favourably with other UK retailers. Like-for-like sales were up 0.6 per cent for the 26 weeks ending March 4.

Debenhams is the UK's second largest department store chain, with 123 stores across the country. It also has 30 international franchise stores.

The group expects to announce its share price on May 4.