The credit crunch has forced most entrepreneurs to put flotation plans on hold. Not the Reuben Brothers, though. They're gearing up for a £1.5bn float of their data centre company, Global Switch.
Brothers David and Simon – who are among the ten richest families in Britain – built up their fortune in the seventies and eighties in metals trading and property.
They bought a 75 per cent stake in Global Switch in January last year. By June, they’d snapped up the remaining 25 per cent and reportedly spent more than £170m in upgrading and expanding the business. Global Switch is expected to generate earnings of £80m this year – adding a nice little chunk to the brothers’ current £4.3bn fortune.
According to The Times, the float could come as early as the second half of this year or the first half of next. The pair are weighing up whether to float in London, the US or continental Europe.