Gremlin Interactive Ltd, which will become the first UK games company to achieve a full listing when it floats on the open market in July, is on the verge of a major expansion. The Sheffield-based company, expected to achieve a value of between 45m pounds and 55m pounds with a placing of 25% of its shares, wants to increase its current output of six to eight games per year to 15. Gremlin recently purchased Scottish software house and Nintendo supplier DMA Ltd, an acquisition that boosted their design team from 120 to 220. But the company still wants to employ more programmers and make further acquisitions. Husband and Wife team Ian and Jenny Stewart look set to share a paper fortune of around 22m pounds when the company floats. But most of the money raised will be pumped back in to fund games development. Mr Stewart founded Gremlin in 1983 and the company is best known for its series of sports games: Actua Soccer, Actua Golf and the Premier Manager series. The company produces games for the Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64. Last year Gremlin upped profits from 1.13m pounds to 2.81m pounds on sales that rose from 7.54 pounds to 11.3m pounds.
