Calluna on course for USM with 30m pounds tag

William Gleeson
Friday 07 October 1994 23:02 BST
Comments

CALLUNA Technology, which designs and manufactures portable disk drives, plans to raise pounds 10m to pounds 12m through a flotation on the Unlisted Securities Market later this month. The company will offer up to 30 per cent of its equity, valuing it at pounds 30m.

Calluna's managing director, Norman White, was a director of Rodime, an ill-fated high technology company quoted on the full list. Rodime, which designed and made hard disks for personal computers, lost its way in 1991 after an ambitious expansion programme in the US and the Far East.

Started in 1980, Rodime reached a turnover of more than pounds 80m by 1985. Although it is still listed on the market it no longer trades, deriving its income from licensing patents.

Dr White denied that Rodime had been a failure, saying it traded successfully throughout the Eighties. He set up Calluna with five former Rodime colleagues in 1991.

Calluna designs and manufactures a credit card-sized 80- megabite hard disk which fits into specially created slots in laptop and notebook computers. Because the card is transferable between computers users do not need to take their PCs, electrical flex or batteries with them.

Calluna, turnover pounds 3m, has yet to make a profit. Donald MacDonald, finance director, said it was 'doubling turnover every two months'. He anticipates industry sales of the card growing to more than three million by 1997.

The company will apply to join the full list in 1996, when the USM closes, by when it will have the required three-year trading record.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in