Virtual workforce pioneer raises £21m in IPO

A COMPANY specialising in robotic process automation software which allows customers to save costs by creating a virtual workforce to handle back office, clerical functions has raised £21.1m through a stock market listing on AIM.

The listing gives Newton-le-Willows-based Blue Prism, which has offices in London and in the US, a market capitalisation of around £48.5m.

The company, which has 43 staff, said £10m of the proceeds raised will be used to underwrite its growth plans and provide balance sheet strength to contract with its blue-chip customers and partners, which include the Co-op Bank, online retailer Shop Direct, RWE npower, Fidelity Investments, the NHS and O2.

It added that £11.1m is for the benefit of selling shareholders. They include the Rising Stars Growth Fund (24.8%) and the Liverpool Seed Fund (18.6%) while chief executive Alastair Bathgate owns 14.5% of its shares.

He said: “This is an important step for Blue Prism as we increase the profile of the group in line with the growing awareness of the RPA market.

“We believe that the IPO will assist our next stage of growth, providing access to capital to fund our expansion plans as well as further incentivise our employees.

“In addition, the increased visibility over our business will help to improve the assurance and confidence our customers and partners place in Blue Prism. This is a very exciting time in the group’s evolution and we look forward with confidence to the next stage in Blue Prism’s development.”

It has placed 27,041,318 new and existing ordinary shares at 78p a share. Following the placing, Blue Prism has 62,210,968 ordinary shares in issue, all of which will be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that admission will become effective on March 18, 2016.

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