Dealogic founders to hit jackpot

DEALOGIC, one of the City's best-known number-crunchers, is floating on the stock market in a potential £175m listing that will swell the fortunes of Computacenter founders Peter Ogden and Philip Hulme.

Ogden and Hulme's combined stake in Dealogic, a business they set up with managing director Simon Hessel in 1983, will be worth about £80m when it joins Aim in May.

All the shares on offer to institutions under the float will come from Hessel as he sells just over half his 25% holding. Current chief executive Tom Fleming will be given a 15% stake.

The decision to float is another sign of the returning confidence in the City's tech sector. Shares in NETeller, a firm that pioneered secure payments for goods and services over the internet, began trading on Aim today as it completed a £240m listing - the biggest on the junior market this year.

Institutions have shelled out £30m for an issue of 15m new shares at 200p each, giving them a 14.6% stake. The presence as joint broker of Durlacher, the bank synonymous with the tech boom, may even fuel talk of a return to the good times of the late 1990s. NETeller eased 4p to 196p in early trade.

Dealogic is best known for supplying trading software for share and bond dealings but it also provides realms of data on equity transactions, mergers, acquisitions and floats in the Square Mile. The business, previously known as Computasoft, was set up 21 years ago with just £30,000 but now has 300 offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. Profits last year came in at £12m on sales of £28m.

Ogden and Hulme, whose combined stake in Computacenter is today worth about £300m, are both expected to hold on to the lion's share of their 25% holdings in the group.

Ogden, non-executive chairman, said the float marked the next stage in Dealogic's development.

He added: 'We intend to extend our reach further within the capital markets while maintaining our rigorous control of finances and service quality. We are confident that we will continue to deliver the growth of which this company is capable.'

NETeller's listing nets nearly £5m for its Canadian founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebre who sell a portion of their holdings. Their remaining 22% stake is valued at £52.8m.

The group turned a profit of $221,000 (£121,500) post-tax on sales of $24.5m in the year to 31 August 2003, up from $57,000 on $4.4m of sales in

2002.

Nominated adviser Cannacord Europe forecasts $70m sales this year and $118m next.