Raspberry Pi Ltd on Wednesday said it plans to list on the London Main Market, the announcement casting another chink of light on what had been a dark outlook for initial public offerings in the City.
The announcement by Raspberry Pi follows a Reuters report that Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein will list in London and a Bloomberg report that Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will sell or spin-off UK pharmacy chain Boots, with a London listing one of the possibilities.
Cambridge, England-based Raspberry Pi is known for its cheap and cheerful computers. It makes low-cost single board computers and compute modules for industrial ’internet-of-things’ uses, as well as for enthusiasts and educators.
It has sold more than 60 million such SBCs and compute modules since it started trading in 2012, with 7.4 million sold in 2023 alone. It expects to sell 8.4 million in 2024 and believes it has a total addressable market of $21.2 billion.
Raspberry Pi recorded $38.2 million in pretax profit in 2023 on $265.8 million in revenue.
The IPO will be led by Jefferies International Ltd and Peel Hunt LLP as joint global co-ordinators. It will include a retail offer using Peel Hunt’s REX portal. Both new and existing shares will be offered. The company is currently owned by youth charity Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Raspberry Pi said it aims for a premium Main Market listing, meaning it will be eligible for inclusion in FTSE indices. Its size would make FTSE 250 index inclusion likely.
It didn’t provide a date for the intended float, nor the amount of money it will seek to raise.
Funds raised in the IPO will be used to increase its sales force, targeting more sales in the education and design consultancy sectors, as well as to pursue large-volume original-equipment-manufacturer opportunities.
Raspberry Pi is led by Founder & Chief Executive Officer Eben Upton. It is chaired by Martin Hellawell, who was CEO of FTSE 250 technology listing Softcat PLC. He currently also is chair of used-tech sales platform musicMagpie PLC and of Gamma Communications PLC.
‘When we released our first product in 2012, our goal was to provide a computer that was affordable enough for young people to own and explore with confidence, giving them the chance to discover computing and get excited about it,’ Upton said. ‘But from the very beginning we saw customers using our products in a staggering variety of applications across a broad swathe of markets.’
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould commented: ‘The addition of an established, profitable technology company is exactly what the UK market needs to hopefully open the flood gates for more tech firms to list in London.’
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