Firm debut for IndigoVision and iTouch

Technology and media new issues got off to a solid start yesterday, as four initial public offerings (IPOs) in the sector ended the day in positive territory.

Technology and media new issues got off to a solid start yesterday, as four initial public offerings (IPOs) in the sector ended the day in positive territory.

ITouch, the mobile internet portal that provides content and services to mobile customers, was the biggest of the companies to float. The company raised £42m net of expenses in the offering and ended the day 1.5p higher at 71.5p, valuing the company at £210m. Independent News & Media, the publisher of The Independent, has a stake of 50 per cent in iTouch following the IPO.

IndigoVision Group, which has technology that allows video and other moving images to be sent over the internet, had a sparkling début. The Scottish company's shares, with an issue price of 190p, closed yesterday at 323p, valuing the company at £230m. Indigo will go straight into the techMARK 100 index.

Jamie Matheson of Bell Lawrie White, broker to IndigoVision, said: "Six or seven months ago, you could have practically floated any technology company. Now there is a quality requirement and some vision of when the business is going to make money. If it is priced rightly, there is still an appetite for quality among investors."

The Market Age, which provides software used in financial trading, floated on the Alternative Investment Market, seeing its shares close up 31p at 137p.

Also on AIM, Forever Broadcasting, a radio business based in Newcastle, ended 16 per cent above the issue price at 180p. The Wireless Group, the radio company run by a former editor of the Sun, Kelvin Mackenzie, has a 18 per cent stake in Forever.