USM quote for On Demand

ON DEMAND Information, a loss-making electronic information provider, is joining the Unlisted Securities Market via a pounds 9m share placing valuing the company at pounds 40m, writes Neil Thapar.

Albert E Sharp, the sponsoring broker, is placing 12.8 million shares at 78p each. About pounds 2.75m of the proceeds will be used to repay loans and preference shares, and the rest used as working capital.

The company was previously part of Poulter Communications, a private advertising and marketing group, but has been demerged to develop under a separate management team. But both companies will be chaired by Graham Poulter.

ODI has created a system that can deliver a range of information services such as directories, technical manuals and brochures via an on-line terminal. Its proprietary technology enables the data to appear on screens in exactly the same form as it does on paper.

In the past five years it has spent about pounds 2m developing the system. It has 170 subscribers who pay an annual fee of pounds 1,750. It made an operating loss of pounds 774,000 for the year to 31 July, up from pounds 348,000.