Dunelm deputy-chairman Will Adderley is selling a £211 million stake in the business which was started by his parents more than 40 years ago.
The homewares chain said Mr Adderley – who has twice been its chief executive – was selling 15 million shares, equivalent to 7.4 per cent of the total number.
But it said he remained committed to Dunelm, and with “persons closely associated with him” would still hold 37.8 per cent of the total shares in the company.
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At the current market rate of £14.08 the shares would be worth £211.2 million – however big share sales such as this usually attract a discount, typically of less than 10 per cent.
The placing is being handled by Barclays and Goldman Sachs.
Dunelm said: “Will Adderley remains fully committed to Dunelm in his role as deputy chairman as well as a very substantial shareholder in the company and his working relationship with the company is unchanged.”
Dunelm was founded in 1979 by Mr Adderley’s parents Bill and Jean on a stall on Leicester market. It has seen phenomenal growth during lockdown, last week reporting sales for the second half of 2020 of £719.4 million. That compared to sales for the whole of the previous 12 months of £1.06 billion.
Over the last three weeks the share price has risen steadily from around £11.40 to £14.08.
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The company has a market value of around £2.85 billion.
Dunelm said the shares being sold were held by WA Capital Limited – a company controlled by Will Adderley and his wife Nadine.
It said Mr Adderley was selling the shares to broaden his investment portfolio, having last sold shares in Dunelm in April 2016.
He would still directly own 17.8 per cent of the shares in the Leicestershire headquartered business, while four other companies and trusts that he is connected to would still retain a 20 per cent stake.
Dunelm said the combined Adderley family would still have around 87.3 million shares in the company, or about 43.2 per cent.
Dunelm said WA Capital had made an undertaking that, following completion of the placing, it would not dispose of further shares in the company for a period of at least 90 days, subject to certain exceptions.
It said: “The placing will be managed by Barclays and Goldman Sachs International acting as joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners.
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“The amount of the placing proceeds, the number of ordinary shares in the placing and the placing price will be decided at the close of the accelerated bookbuilding period.”
Dunelm is the market leader in the £13 billion 海角视频 homewares market and a big player in the £11 billion 海角视频 furniture market.
Most of its stores are now based on out-of-town retail parks and the business employs around 10,000 people.