BELFAST, IRELAND — It’s all change at scientific-camera specialist Andor Technology as the new year begins. The company moved into a new £6 million (US$11 million), purpose built facility in the same week that saw its IPO (initial public offering) launch on the London stock market. Andor’s relocation and flotation are designed to enable the company to consolidate its position in the international spectroscopy and scientific imaging markets.
Andor has been admitted to the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The company has raised approximately £4.5 million (before expenses) through a placing of 5,015,643 shares. On admission, the Company has a market capitalisation of approximately £23 million. AIM has advantages for young, growing companies. It is cheaper and easier to list shares on AIM than on the full exchange. Since its foundation in 1995, AIM has had almost 1200 companies join it, many of them on their way up to a full stock exchange listing.
According to Andor chief executive Hugh Cormican, going public and moving into the larger facility are both fundamental to the company’s strategy of becoming an international market leader in specialist scientific cameras for both OEM and research customers.
“The new 50,000 sq ft facility will enable us to implement new manufacturing processes that will greatly reduce our total process time and increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability,” Cormican said. “Our very successful IPO has provided us with the capital needed to achieve these aims. It will also enable us to expand our pioneering R&D activities and further develop our sales and marketing operations in the US, Europe and Japan.”
Andor operates at the high-value end of what the company claims to be a $38.6 billion global digital camera market, and was set up in 1989 as an incubation business at Queens University Belfast. In 2001, private equity firm LDC provided significant development capital to help increase production capacity and assist the firm’s entry into new markets. Andor now employs 145 people and distributes its products to customers in at least 29 countries worldwide. The company has a portfolio of more than 70 products used in a variety of fields ranging from drug development and medical diagnosis to food quality testing and security.
Bridget Marx | Contributing Editor, UK
Bridget Marx was Contributing Editor, UK for Laser Focus World.