Easynet Group Plc, the Internet access provider and force behind the Cyberia cafes is planning to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market in March because the company can’t afford to stand still, according to chairman David Rowe. It is hoping to raise รบ2m from a placing and a public offering. The 20% of the company to be floated will be split 50-50 between the two. Just last September, managing director Grahame Davies was sceptical about flotation, saying it was time to start making money, having turned down numerous offers of venture capital (CI No 2,748). But the market has moved so fast, and the company needs to compete with Demon Internet Ltd and Unipalm Pipex Plc, both of which have large marketing budgets compared with Easynet. Rowe said the money would be used for marketing in the UK home user market, improving the infrastructure of the company’s business service, mainly by employing more people, and for laying the foundations for further expansion into continental Europe. At present the company has one node in Paris, but Rowe said acquisitions are a possibility prior to the opening up of the German and French markets.
