Price comparison web site Comparethemarket.com is mulling over a London Stock Exchange listing.
It has, presumably after thoroughly comparing the merits of all the investment banks out there, appointed Rothschild to test the market's likely response to a flotation.
The company, known for its use of animated meerkats in its advertising, is owned by BGL Group, a South African company that owns insurance brands such as Dial Direct.
In 2014, BGL's reported revenue was £507mln, while it made a pre-tax profit of £94mln, up from £88mln in 2013.
For comparison purposes, rival Moneysupermarket.com (LON:MONY) made underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £95.2mln in its last financial year on revenue of £248mln. If Comparethemarket.com is valued on an earnings basis then, reading across from the market's valuation of Moneysupermarket.com, it might also be expected to be valued at around £1.8bn, whereas if the market decides to value it on a multiple of revenue, then the implied market valuation is a little more than twice that.
“BGL Group can confirm that it is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange; however, at this point, no decisions have been made and there can be no certainty that any process will be formalised,” a spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph.