Monitise seeks £100m to ride on tech wave

Fast-growing mobile payments company Monitise plans to tap the London stock market for up to £100 million in fresh funds in its seventh and largest fundraising.

AIM-listed Monitise wants the cash to take advantage of “significant opportunities” as the global banking industry embraces mobile technology such as contactless “wave and pay” by phone.

The fundraising will be an important test of the City’s appetite for tech firms, following speculation that the group could move its listing overseas.

Chief executive Alastair Lukies today allayed those fears by saying Monitise is applying to move its listing from AIM to the London Stock Exchange’s main market next year.

Lukies has admitted previously that “there are other environments that could offer more opportunities” such as New York’s Nasdaq or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The group, in which credit-card firm Visa is a major investor, is processing $25 billion (£15.6 billion) in payments on an annual basis, compared with $1 billion a year ago.

The shares today fell 1.5p, or 4.5%, to 32p, giving Monitise a stock-market value of £368 million.