DJI looks to NASDAQ to revive fortunes

CHESHIRE company DJI Holdings, the China-focused lottery and technology provider, has decided to seek a secondary listing on the NASDAQ Exchange in the US.

The AIM-listed company, which said in December 2014 it was launching an evaluation process for the move, said a NASDAQ listing, and the enhanced market liquidity that it would bring, would help it develop a stronger institutional shareholder base.

DJI added: “the board believes that the NASDAQ exchange is best suited to recognise the positioning of the business in the technology sector and afford DJI an appropriate market valuation.”

Since its AIM listing in 2014, DJI’s share price has fallen steadily. In the last calendar year it has more than halved from 121p to 43.9p, with a market capitalisation of just over £62m. The company  is hoping to complete the secondary listing during the first quarter of 2016.

Chief executive Darren Mercer said: “”The board outlined at the end of 2014 that it wished to seek a secondary listing on a more liquid exchange and we believe that this process would have already been concluded had it not been for the temporary suspension of the sale of online lottery products in China. Now, with the first steps towards regulatory change already taken, DJI is progressing a secondary listing in order to focus fully in 2016 on the opportunities that we expect the new lottery landscape to present.

“While lottery sales continue to be a key part of the group, the recent exciting developments in our business underline the diverse application of our technology across numerous sectors. Our new joint venture with the Heilongjiang Sports Bureau is already being promoted through three of China’s largest websites, while discussions are taking place with a number of other provinces in connection with the use of our strong online and mobile platform to undertake other non-lottery business streams.

“With this in mind, the board believes that NASDAQ, as the world’s leading stock exchange for technology companies, is the most appropriate through which to recognise the true value of DJI.”