Tool hire company HSS Hire Group plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in a bid to raise about £100m.

The company, which has six Kent locations among its 265 UK branches, is expected to be valued at about £600m when it opens on the markets next month.

It intends to use about £103m raised from the offer to reduce its leverage and give it more money to spend to drive future growth.

To help the firm launch its shares smoothly, it has hired Neil Sachdev as deputy independent non-executive chairman, and Amanda Burton and Douglas Robertson as independent non-executive directors.

Founded in 1957, the firm now employs about 2,900 people and has branches in Ashford, Canterbury, Gillingham, Rochester, Sittingbourne and Tonbridge.

The company reported revenues of £271.6m in the year to September 27, up from £177m in 2011.

Chief executive Chris Davies said: “HSS has outperformed the UK tool and equipment hire market in recent years by offering its customers a powerful combination of safety, value, availability and support.

“By focusing on the more attractive and less cyclical ‘maintain’ and ‘operate’ segments of the market and building a sophisticated distribution network that has enabled a step change in availability and utilisation, we have established a track record of delivering industry leading growth and returns on assets.

“Having built a well-differentiated market position and a scalable business model underpinned by capital efficiency, we have an exciting opportunity ahead of us as we implement our growth plans.

“A public listing will put the business on the best footing to maximise our potential as the recovery in our markets gains momentum, enabling us to scale our model faster and accelerate our growth.”

Non-executive chairman Alan Peterson added: “I am delighted to welcome Neil, Amanda and Douglas to the board.

“Their combined experience and expertise will be invaluable to HSS in the next phase of its growth as a public company and the Group’s ability to attract non-executives of such high calibre underlines the strength of the business and its prospects.”