Michael Page to outgrow parent

Spherion, Michael Page's parent company, is valued at much less on the New Stock Exchange, at about $600m (€647m). A spokesman for Michael Page said this was because profits warnings issued by Spherion, a provider of temporary staff, had caused a fall in its share price.

He said: 'The valuation of Michael Page is not recognised in Spherion, and this is one of the reasons to float, so that it can be appropriately valued as a separate entity.'

Michael Page has set a price range of 190p to 250p per share. It would have a market capitalisation of 825 million if the mid-point of the range were achieved.

Spherion says it will use the proceeds to reduce bank debt and to undertake a share repurchase to return value to its shareholders. The IPO involves 81.7% of the issued share capital of Michael Page.

Another 6% of the shares will be allocated to senior executives of Michael Page.

Michael Page has operations in the UK, continental Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and focuses primarily on the areas of financial services, accounting, marketing, sales and legal.

Credit Suisse First Boston is acting as sponsor, global co-ordinator and sole bookrunner to the IPO. The joint lead manager is Goldman Sachs International, co-lead managers are Deutsche Bank and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. The co-managers are HSBC and West LB Panmure.