Farnborough, Hampshire-based Data Sciences Plc, the core of which is the old Software Sciences, plans to float in London in the next three months, and will be looking for #40m to redeem the preference shares issued in its buyout from Thorn EMI Plc in 1992. The company will be looking for a price that gives it a market capitalisation at flotation of around #75m. The Farnborugh-based company could effectively revert to the old Software Sciences name because the Data was substitited to pick up the name of the Datasolve service bureau, latterly an IBM Corp mainframe shop, which has just been shut down. The company is widely described as having been close to collapse in 1993 before Andy Roberts, the current chief executive, was tapped from ICL Plc to turn the group around. The disaster that has been McDonnell Information Systems Plc since it floated is seen as casting a shadow over any similar company wanting to come to market, but Data Sciences has little in common with McDonnell, and should rather be regarded as a sibling of much longer-quoted companies Logica Plc and Sema Group Plc. Neither of those has had an unsullied public career, but neither has delivered the unbroken chapter of accidents that has marked McDonnell’s career, and each is now a highly regarded company. Data Sciences these days is has focused on a few key specialised markets led by the traditional defence business, with banking, aerospace and telecommunications. It did #6.1m operating profit on #105.7m sales for the year to September. Customers include the UK Ministry of Defence, Friends Provident, Channel 4 and Asda Plc. The company’s broker is James Capel and its banker is Hambros Bank Ltd.
