CarSupermarket and Motor Depot owner Aramis Group is hoping to raise as much as £481m through an initial public offering (IPO) as it targets “profitable growth” – including dealership acquisitions.

Car manufacturer Stellantis is the majority shareholder of the group behind the the 12-site used car supermarket operations and its Bestcarbuyer.com platform in the UK which is looking to raise funds to accelerate its growth across Europe.

Aramis’ IPO will consist of around €250m in new ordinary shares, plus the sale of existing shares by co-founders Nicolas Chartier and Guillaume Paoli and other shareholders.

Stellantis will not be selling its shares, however.

Chartier and Paoli said in a joint statement that the cash raised through the IPO would be used to pursue the company’s strategy of rapid growth in its existing markets, including acquisitions in new European countries.

“With our track record of profitable growth and our leading technology platform, we believe we are ideally positioned to seize growth opportunities and create value for our future shareholders,” the statement added.

The IPO closes at 1pm on June 17, with shares set to begin trading on the Paris Euronext exchange a day later.

Aramis has said that the indicative price range of the international offering was between €23 and €28 a share.

Investment website capital.com reported that Aramis would be hoping its IPO follows the successful offer of Europe's largest used car dealer, AUTO1 Group

The German company raised €1.8bn and saw its shares surge as much as 49% on debut, it said.

CarSupermarket and Motordepot became part of Aramis Group in March this year.

Founded in 2001 by Phil Wilkinson, the Hessle-based retailer reported more than £220m turnover in 2020.

Aramis Group also sells used cars online through its three brands; Aramisauto in France, Clicars in Spain and Cardoen in Belgium.

The UK’s car retail sector is currently awaiting the IPO of Cazoo in the New York Stock Exchange, following its £5 billion valuation earlier this year.

Speaking to AM days after Cazoo’s IPO plan was announced, Vanarama chief executive Andy Alderson said that the car retail sector’s growing reliance on clicks over bricks had driven its “crazy” valuation.