Subtitle group IMS to raise £8m in float

Independent Media Support Group, which provides subtitling services for UK broadcasters and film makers, is looking to raise up to £8m in a float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) next month.

Independent Media Support Group, which provides subtitling services for UK broadcasters and film makers, is looking to raise up to £8m in a float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) next month.

The initial public offering will value the company at about £20m, giving it a price-earnings ratio of 25 times its last annual reported profits of £800,000. The shares are being marketed to institutions this week. However, private investors will have to wait until after the flotation and try to get their hands on the shares in the secondary market.

Aside from the fund raising, the company said its main reason for coming to market was to raise its visibility before forthcoming changes to UK broadcasting law, which will insist all television channels provide subtitling and signing support for about 80 per cent of all programming. The changes are set to be phased in over the next 10 years, and should serve to expand the UK subtitling and signing market exponentially.

William Van Dyke, the transactions director for Corporate Synergy, which is acting as the company's broker and adviser to the float, said: "The new laws from Ofcom mean the market should expand enormously. So the firm wants to strengthen its position financially and raise its visibility."