London EC1-based Trace Computer Plc goes to the London Stock Exchange today, and its shares will be quoted from June 29. At present the two founder members of Trace, Colin Clarke and Richard Wolfe each hold 33% of the company’s shares, with 12% owned by the Brown Shipley Development Capital Fund, and the rest held by other directors. Brown Shipley & Co is sponsoring the flotation of 25% of the company’s shares with the founders and directors retaining a majority holding. Trace has four components: Trace (Computer Holdings) which provides the proprietary software product Tramps for property management, and Twins, which runs on Wang VS machines, for the insurance market. This core division of Trace which produces UKP6.2m of the group’s UKP9.7m turnover also acts as a direct marketing arm for the Unisys GWB product in the banking sector, and for the Unisys USSS product in the building society market. The software house Image Software Ltd is the smallest part of the group and is subcontracted by Unisys to develop specific modules of GWB. Pink Computing Ltd provides networking and installation services for Unisys systems, contributing UKP1.4m to the group’s turnover, while another UKP1.2m is derived from Trace (Wordflow) Ltd, the group’s consumables supplier. Clients for Tramps include Chesterton, General Accident and Hillier Parker, while a number of Lloyds reinsurance and direct insurance brokers use Twins. The rationale behind the flotation is that Trace needs to be of a more substantial size to be a success in the vertical markets of banking and building societies, so that a policy of growth by both acquisitive and organic means is on the cards. Indeed, Trace’s acquisitions have already begun with the addition of the data processing consultancy Prospect – a deal to be completed next week.
