IMImobile makes a sound debut on London bourse

IMImobile, the mobile technology company founded by Vishwanath Alluri and Shyam Bhat, outlined plans to consolidate the fragmented software solutions industry as it began its first day of trading in London after raising £30 million on the city’s Alternative Investment Market.

Placed at 120 pence a share, IMImobile was trading at 131.50/pence in the mid-afternoon in London.

“What we see is a very fragmented market in software and services solutions for mobile ecosystems and we see ourselves as a consolidator in that market,” said CEO Jay Patel in London. “We have a great stream of developers in Hyderabad and the UK, and a great foundation. We can become a lot larger,” he said.

The company also plans to use the funds raised to increase profitability in its core businesses and seek out new revenue opportunities.

Set up in 1999 IMImobile has grown rapidly, providing services and software to telecom and media companies in Europe — including the UK, Spain and Germany — and emerging markets, working with around 100 operators globally. For the year ending March last year sales hit £38.5 million pounds.

The listing would enable the company to take advantage of growth opportunities worldwide. “We have a strong presence with operators across the world and as operators launch 4G services and find more ways to market to their customers we give them solutions to do that,” Patel said.

“I think there is a universe of possibilities that haven’t even been discovered yet.”

India currently accounts for a quarter of its business, and Patel believes it will continue to grow, particularly in the enterprise sector. “The market in India has now stabilised and we should be poised for growth. The consolidation of operators will be a good thing for the market and we see ourselves as the trusted IT vendor to these very large operators.”

He also expects growth in Africa to be rapid: “We have had very big successes in Africa where we have been since 2006. We have great clients on the continent and it’s clearly one of the most amazing markets.”

London had been the logical place for IMImobile’s listing, with a large proportion of its European business (which account for over half its revenues) currently made in the UK.

“The rest of our business is in emerging markets and in London, institutional investors understand the growth dynamic in emerging markets,” said Patel.

“We feel confident we can handle a lot of growth going forward.”

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