News

Saga Holdings Ltd, the UK financial services and holiday firm for the over 50s, is considering a return to the stock market which could trigger fresh windfalls for thousands of staff who jointly own 20% of the business.

The company is based in Folkestone, where, in the 1950s, the founding de Haan family offered pensioners off-peak holidays at their hotel.

Saga, said today (4 April) it had appointed British merchant bank Close Brothers to advise on a possible flotation in the second half of 2007.

It was previously a listed company in the late 70s and 80s before being taken private again in 1990 by the de Haan family.

Now it has 2.2 million customers, offering holidays aboard three of its own cruise liners, membership of a string of branded healthclubs and a range of financial services products.

Saga has tapped a lucrative market. More than 40% of the population amounting to 19 million people in the UK are over 50 and control 80 percent of wealth, according to the company's website.

In 2004, the company seriously considered a flotation but former owner Roger de Haan decided instead to sell the company to its management, backed by private equity firm Charterhouse, in a deal worth £1.35 billion.

Industry sources have said Saga now has an enterprise value of at least £2.5 billion.