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Five businessmen are likely to make a paper profit of more than pounds 15m when their company, SDX Business Systems, floats on the stock market with a full listing later this year, in a placing organised by Kleinwort Benson. SDX is also paying pounds 1.5m - averaging about pounds 8,000 a head - to 200 of its staff as a flotation bonus.

The company, which specialises in business communications technology, is expected to be valued at more than pounds 50m, including up to pounds 10m of new money. SDX was bought from STC five years ago in a management buyout for a price believed to be pounds 5m, and it is now worth eight times as much.

The biggest shareholder, with 22 per cent, is Frank Bretherton (above), chief executive, whose stake is worth more than pounds 8m. Two other directors, Jeremy Cooke and Bob Kennedy, own about 10 per cent each.