Rebel Sports float delayed, but Tiger Airways IPO takes off

Archer Capital, the owner of the retail business Rebel Group, has pulled back from plans to float the business, with the outlook for retail companies still cloudy.

Rebel Group, which includes the Rebel Sports and A-Mart All Sports chains, was tipped to float early in the year in a deal tipped to be worth as much as $800 million.

But Archer now plans to wait for retailers to start reporting their half-yearly sales results in the coming weeks to judge the strength of the retail sector and, perhaps more importantly, the appetite among investors for retail shares.

Archer’s delay is tipped to put other proposed retail floats on hold, including that of Red Group (which owns the Borders and Angus & Robertson chains), which was also expected to float early in 2010.

The two big retail floats of recent months, Myer and adventure goods retailer Kathmandu, have been disappointing. Myer is trading at around $3.55 compared to its issue price of $4.10, while Kathmandu’s stock is at $1.61, compared with its issue price of $1.70.

But not every float is on the backburner. Tiger Airways has defied market criticism to successfully raise $248 million to help fund its expansion activities.

The company’s shares, which will list on the Singapore Stock Exchange on Friday, will be priced at $S1.50, in the middle of the $S1.35 to $S1.65 range.

Australia is one of the company’s key expansion targets, although the company has lost almost $80 million in its first two years of operation.