Daisy Communications is reportedly in talks over a £200m flotation on AIM.
According to The Sunday Times, the company, which is led by Matthew Riley, is aiming to raise cash to fund acquisitions with an official announcement of the IPO due this week.
The paper reported that the firm is in talks to back into Freedom4 Group, a telecoms minnow previously known as Pipex, with Vialtus, Pipex’s former business telecoms arm, also becoming part of the business.
The entire group will be rebranded as Daisy, with Riley as chief executive. The newspaper reported that he will be left with roughly a 25% stake in the enlarged group and will take out up to £30m in cash.
Daisy has long had a strong acquisitive pedigree, completing 23 deals since Riley established the firm in 2001, and it is now targeting the acquisition of a number of telecoms providers that have recently run into trouble.
Named the UK’s 18th fastest growing technology company in the 2008 Deloitte Fast50 chart, the company has more than 200 staff and reported a turnover of £53m last year. Annual turnover of the enlarged group will be more than £100m.
In 2007, Riley, won a £5m interest free loan and mentoring from retail tycoon Sir Philip Green as winner of the Bank of Scotland Entrepreneur Challenge. Green is understood to have provided advice on the proposed flotation.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2009