Zamano tipped to raise up to €7m in AIM float


31 Oct 2006

Irish mobile software company Zamano is tipped to raise between €5m and €7m when the company floats on the London Alternative Investment Market (AIM) today.

Sources close to the company say that institutional investors have pre-booked between €5m and €7m in shares in the company.

Zamano, which employs 28 people, was established by managing director John O’Shea to take advantage of growing demand for mobile services. The company is now targeting a mobile content market estimated to be worth US$11bn this year, according to Juniper Research.

Zamano’s resources are focused primarily on software and services. The company’s mobile services have been launched on O2 Ireland, Vodafone Ireland, O2 UK, Orange UK and O2 Nederland.

It is understood that the company took on venture capital funding of €2m around 2001. However, the company has been profitable since 2004 and reported revenues of €10m in 2005.

Existing investors in Zamano include Quinlan Private Capital and Enterprise Ireland. The company is chaired by Rod Matthews, former CEO of Scottish Telecom.

A source close to the company that after the AIM flotation the company is considering a dual-listing on the Dublin IEX market in about a year’s time.

Speaking with siliconrepublic.com, O’Shea agreed that there is considerable interest in technology companies following the recent Google acquisition of YouTube.com for US$1.75bn.

“There are a number of players who are acquiring other firms for well-thought-out strategic reasons. However, you don’t see share prices going through the roof.

“In Zamano’s case we are focused on delivering high levels of profitability and shareholder value.

“The reasons behind our AIM flotation are firstly to have more cash in the bank as well as the currency to undertake potential acquisitions and secondly to continue our investment in our technology platform,” O’Shea said.

By John Kennedy