Financial Times (Wednesday 31 December 2008)

BIW to press on with Aim listing

By Philip Stafford

BIW Technologies, the UK group whose construction project software will be used to build the 2012 London Olympic village, still plans a £25m to £40m listing on Aim in the first quarter of 2009 if market conditions stabilise.

"The timing is down to market conditions more than anything," said Bill Flind, finance director. "We were down to do it in October-November time but the market just froze. We’re all ready and raring to go when the timing is right."

The group provides an online software package that allows the various parties on a large-scale construction project to access the plans and add data. At the end of September it held 4.6 terabytes of data, with 3.9m drawings and 2.3m of other documents.

Since it was founded in 2000, the group has won several high-profile projects, such as the fit-out of the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station in London and the construction of the headquarters of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle.

Earlier this year it won a deal to supply all of the projects of Nakheel, the property developer in the United Arab Emirates, including the proposed 1.4km high Nakheel Tower in Dubai, set to be the world’s tallest building.

BIW has yet to finalise the appointment of advisers but is looking to raise about £5m to £15m for working capital and to pay off a £3m loan.

Mr Flind added that although some construction projects had been pulled by the global recession, they were at a much earlier stage of the planning cycle than when BIW gets involved.

Turnover for BIW in the year to September 30 rose 27 per cent to £7.3m, with profit doubling to £1.1m.

The order book rose to £12.7m from £9m in September 2007, although the latter figure was distorted by a large project.

The management, led by founders Mr Flind and Colin Smith, chief executive, own about 35 per cent of the share capital; venture capital group Tempo Capital Partners own about 25 per cent and a group of angel investors hold some 20 per cent. The balance is held by Vanquish, a Bahamas-based private investor.

(Original article here)