Having briefly stalled for time at the start of this week, the UK’s biggest seller of PC’s to the corporate marketplace, Computacenter Plc, has now uncovered its plans for a May flotation of 25% of the company’s stock, expected to value the group at 900m pounds. The float was announced as Computacenter revealed pre-tax profits for the year to December 31 up 39% at 47.1 on revenues up 28% at 1.3bn pounds. The group’s founders, Philip Hume and Peter Ogden, each own a 26% stake in the company making them worth a prospective 240m pounds if the target price is achieved. And the majority of the 25% stake offered for sale will come from existing shareholders, as the group has minimal financing requirements. This means handsome profits for the founders as well as for venture capitalists Apax Partners who own a 22% stake. And in the face of such overwhelming riches, the directors have outlined a flotation bonus for the group’s 3,300 employees in the form of free shares, but only to the value of 500 pounds each. The placing of stock with institutional investors will be aimed primarily at the UK, but will also take in some US investors.
