2014 a bumper year for UK ‘tech’ IPOs

There were 19 UK tech IPOs on the London markets in 2014 for the second year in a row, resulting in a net gain in the number of UK quoted tech companies. If there was a ‘problem’ here it was that many tested the definition of what constitutes a 'tech' company to the limits. Indeed, the UK seems to be rather good at melding tech with retail, fintech, creative et al. Companies like Rightmove and Zoopla have used tech to create huge disruption in the real estate sector. This has been the case in the sale of white goods (AO.com) through to the archetypal ‘meals on wheels masquerading as tech' (MOWMAT) takeaway food firm, JustEat.com, and everything in between.

If we narrow down the list to the UK software and IT services (SITS) sector, nine companies made it to London markets in 2014, almost half the number for 2013 (16). In contrast, 2014 saw fewer UK SITS exits – four in all, vs 8 in 2013 – but that includes industrial conglomerate Invensys, which hid some software businesses under the covers (see Another one bites the dust). Excluding Invensys - with a market cap of some £3.4bn - the aggregate exit value of UK SITS companies leaving London markets in 2014 would have been £230m, about £50m more than the prior year

There’s more, and TechMarketView Foundation Service subscription clients can read our concise annual review of the UK SITS quoted sector in IndustryViews Quoted Sector – 2014 Review out now.

Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:52'