Calyx raises €10.5m
through AIM listing


10 Mar 2005

Calyx has raised €10.5m by listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange and has achieved a valuation of €31m.

The Irish IT networking solutions firm raised €10.5m (£7.25m sterling) by placing some 13.1 million ordinary shares at 55 pence sterling per share. The company said that the proceeds of the placing will be used to invest in additional technical, sales and marketing infrastructure to enable the firm to capitalise on further opportunities in outsourcing.

The money will also be used to acquire additional products, technologies and businesses that Calyx believes will complement its current and future business. The remainder of the net proceeds of the placing will be used to strengthen the company’s balance sheet.

Calyx provides networking and outsourced IT services to significant Irish blue-chip players such as AIB, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank and Axa Insurance. Public sector clients include the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Communications, the Department of Justice and the Department of Enterprise.

The company also acts as an agent or reseller for a variety of IT industry stalwarts, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Citrix, Avaya, NEC, Symantec, Toshiba and Xerox.

Calyx emerged from a management buyout of the business from Alphyra in 2001. Commenting on the AIM listing, Calyx CEO and co-founder Maurice Healy, said: “The flotation of Calyx will not only increase our profile and provide us with resources to deliver the ambitions that we have talked about but it will also provide significant opportunities for the expansion of our service activities, particularly in the area of centralised remote ICT network management.

“Our position within the industry is unique and demand for the services that we provide is increasing as organisations focus on their core competencies and so outsource non-core activities such as ICT management and support,” Healy added.

By John Kennedy