Waterstones owner Elliott Management is close to hiring bankers to work on a multi-billion-pound listing of the bookseller.

The group, which bought Waterstones in 2018, and US sister Barnes & Noble the following year, is preparing to appoint Rothschild to act as an independent adviser on its flotation options, according to Sky News. 

It is understood the public market debut could happen as soon as the second quarter of this year, with sources telling Sky that Rothschild’s likely engagement was the clearest sign that London was well placed to eclipse New York for the listing. 

Waterstones and Barnes & Noble are respectively the biggest book retailers in the UK and US. 

Between them they operate 775 branches in the US and 316 in the UK. 

Last year, the business generated profits of approximately $400m on sales of $3bn.

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