Shares in independent ATM operator Moneybox have commenced trading on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at 51 pence, a slight premium to their 47 pence placing price.
Moneybox has raised £47.5 million through the placing, of which £20 million in net proceeds is retained by the company. Of this, £7.5 million will be used to pay for the acquisition of G2, a UK-based developer and operator of ATM, cashless payment and access control systems, leaving Moneybox with £12.5 million in the bank.
Paul Stanley, Moneybox chief executive, says the flotationleaves the company well placed "to take advantage of the numerous opportunities for growth and consolidation that exist within the sector".
Shares in Moneybox's main quoted competitor Cardpoint were trading two pence down mid-morning at 129.5 pence as the company announced its first live cash machine in Germany. Cardpoint, which operates an estate of 2100 ATMs in the UK, forecasts that it will have 30 cash machines deployed in Germany by the summer with 75 by the end of 2004.