LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British limousine firm A1 Stretch is planning a flotation on the London stock market in March which will value it at about 15 million pounds ($26.8 million), the company said on Monday.
Eddie Ellis, co-owner of the business, said he expected 30 percent of the company's shares would be offered to the public.
Ellis plans to float on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's junior market. He told Reuters in a telephone interview that a decision on who will manage the flotation would be made by the end of the week, but declined to name the contenders.
Ellis was upbeat about the British market for limousine services and said in addition to celebrity clients there was growing demand from the general public.
"Everybody likes turning up in a limo, it has still got the gimmick factor," he said.
A1's has turnover of about five million pounds. The firm, started when Ellis was running a florist business and a debtor gave him a limousine in lieu of cash, gets about half its revenue from hiring out the limousines and half from converting and selling limousines to other operators.
Ellis aims to develop three more sites in the next 18 months and said he was considering expanding the business beyond its core taxi operation.
"There are so many of these cars coming in but nobody is covering the maintenance side. That will be a big growth area for us," he said.