Kalibrate float raises £13m
A MANCHESTER firm specialising in software for petrol retailers has raised £13.1m in a stock market flotation.
Kalibrate Technologies, formerly KSS Fuels, is based on Oxford Street at St James’s Buildings where it has more than 100 staff.
It develops pricing and planning systems for petrol retailers.
The company has offices in Japan, South Korea, China, India, South Africa, Brazil and two sites in the US, including a second corporate HQ in New Jersey.
It has placed 8.2 million shares, 25% of the business, on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at 79p each which has given the company a market value of £26.2m. The biggest shareholders are the Bank of New York with 35% and London-based investment house Eurovestech with 20%.
The group plans to use the cash to expand overseas trade and develop new products. It will also repay an existing shareholder loan.
Chief executive Bob Stein said: “Investor response has been strong and I am delighted with the success of our placing. This was a milestone event for us at Kalibrate and I’m proud to welcome on board our new, high-quality institutional shareholder base and look forward to delivering on our promise to them as we move to the next stage of our development as a quoted company.
“We have a clear strategy in place and look forward with confidence to delivering on that strategy as well as to the creation of value for all of our shareholders.”
KSS Fuels was founded in 1993 and focused on pricing software for a number of retail sectors. In 2011 it acquired Market Planning Solutions a provider of fuel retail site evaluation and network planning solutions and services that was formed in 1970.
Kalibrate has more than 200 clients across 68 countries. Customers range from multinational oil companies, convenience store chains and supermarket retailers. In the current financial year the company generated revenue of £15.5m delivering EBITDA of £1.9m and a profit before tax of £880,000.
