SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT

CITYAM.COM
TUESDAY 9 AUGUST 2016
NEWS
11
Tech startup set
to LoopUp float
on Aim this year
LYNSEY BARBER
@lynseybarber
A TECH startup based in London is
planning to go public with a multimillion-pound
listing on the capital’s
junior market.
LoopUp is reportedly seeking to raise
£9m which would give the firm a market
capitalisation of up to £45m. It is
understood that the startup plans to
list on the Alternative Investment
Market (Aim) by the end of this
month.
LoopUp takes the hassle out of conference
calling for businesses with
software which streamlines the
process, from reducing muffled
noises to being able to share content
while speaking.
Customers include Alcatel Lucent
and National Geographic and the London-headquartered
firm has operations
in San Francisco, New York,
Boston and Hong Kong.
City grandee Lady Barbara Judge will
also join the startup as a chairman,
which comes just days after she took
up a similar role at a tech startup focused
on HR.
Revenues stood at £10.1m in 2015, a
rise of 36 per cent on the previous
year. The firm said it has been profitable
in terms of Ebitda since 2013.
The listing comes at an awkward
time in the IPO market, which has
frozen over the past several quarters
globally particularly when it comes to
technology companies.
In the UK the vote in June to quit the
European Union has added a more serious
note of caution among many
companies considering a float.
LoopUp, named one of Tech City’s
Future Fifty companies to watch, believes
it’s exposure to any general market
conditions is minimal, however.
According to an analysis by EY, an already
slow year for public listings is
likely to continue as a result of the EU
referendum
The accountancy giant’s research
IPO Eye noted that 2016 has already
seen “subdued levels” of activity, with
13 listings tracked in the second quarter,
down from 15 in the first.
The second-quarter listings raised
£553m in total, down 30 per cent on
the first quarter and 52 per cent on
the same period in 2015.
IPO Eye noted that “a number of
businesses that were prepared and
could have listed as quickly as [the
fourth quarter] are now expected to
put their plans on hold until there is
a more certain economic and political
outlook in the UK”.
Recent floats included media company
Time Out and venture capital
firm Draper Esprit.
Members of Secret Escapes can get up to 70 per cent off on luxury holidays
Secret Escapes jets off to France
and other European countries
FRANCESCA WASHTELL
@fwashtell
CUT-PRICE luxury holiday site Secret
Escapes has no time to relax on the
beach this summer, as the company
has expanded its operations into
another four European countries.
The flash sales travel hub is now
available in France, where it will be
called Evasions Secretes, as well as
Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech
Republic. In Eastern Europe, it will
go under the name Travelist.
Secret Escapes is now operational
in 21 countries worldwide and serves
32m members, up from four million
in January 2014. Outside of Europe it
has operations in the US, Hong Kong,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
Amazon’s HQ
in Japan raided
by authorities
LYNSEY BARBER
@lynseybarber
THE OFFICES of Amazon in Japan
were raided by authorities
yesterday, according to local media.
Officials from the Fair Trade
Commission, the country’s
competition watchdog, were
probing the retail giant’s offices on
suspicions that it unfairly forced
sellers to favour its own platform
over rival ones.
Amazon Japan did not comment
on the report while a spokesperson
for the Fair Trade Commission did
not confirm the report, but told
Reuters: “I won’t say the contents
are incorrect”.
Separately, Amazon is under
investigation by the anti-trust
watchdog in Europe over the
arrangements it makes with
publishers for distributing e-books.
Brussels is taking a closer look at
Amazon’s contracts with
publishers and whether the deals
are anticompetitive and make it
more difficult for other e-book
distributors to compete, violating
the EU’s antitrust rules.
“Our investigation does not call
that [Amazon’s business] into
question,” said the Brussels-based
competition tsar Margrethe
Vestager.
“However, it is my duty to make
sure that Amazon’s arrangements
with publishers are not harmful to
consumers, by preventing other e-
book distributors from innovating
and competing effectively with
Amazon.”
Volkswagen investor lawsuits to be sped up
ANDREAS CREMER
A GERMAN court will adopt a rarely
used class-action style procedure to
more efficiently process claims by
investors seeking damages from
Volkswagen over a diesel emissions
cheating scandal, according to a
ruling.
The regional court in
Braunschweig near Volkswagen’s
(VW) Wolfsburg headquarters said
yesterday it will pick one case to act
WILLIAM TURVILL
@wturvill
SHARES in Melrose Industries
shot up 13 per cent yesterday as
the London-listed turnaround
group closed in on completing its
deal for a US air conditioning
company.
Melrose announced that the
“shop window period” on its deal
for Nortek expired on 6 August
without a superior offer being
made.
The UK company said
competition conditions have
already been satisfied and the
as a model to help resolve as many
as 170 other damages claims, the
closest thing Germany has to classaction
lawsuits common in the US.
Private and institutional
investors are suing VW alleging
managers at the carmaker failed to
disclose its involvement in a diesel
emissions cheating scandal in a
timely manner, a claim VW rejects.
“VW continues to take the view
that it has duly complied with
disclosure rules related to
deal has shareholder approval.
The transaction is expected to
close on 31 August.
Melrose announced it had
agreed a $2.8bn (£2.1bn) deal for
the US heating and air
conditioning company on 6 July.
In the year to 31 December,
Nortek reported revenue of
$2.5bn and a headline operating
profit of $220.1m.
The deal is classified as a
reverse takeover because of the
size of the target.
Yesterday, after Melrose
announced the deal was set for
completion this month, its shares
securities law,” a spokesperson for
the car giant said yesterday, adding
the court’s decision to allow for a
model proceeding is a “normal
procedural step” that is also backed
by VW.
Most of the 170 cases have been
filed by private investors with the
largest case by lawyer Andreas Tilp
filed on behalf of 277 institutional
investors and worth €3.26bn
(£2.77bn). Tilp has represented
investors in many cases over capital
market-disclosure issues. Reuters
London-listed turnaround group’s shares
soar 13pc as it seals air conditioning deal
shot up more than 13 per cent to
775p.
Announcing the deal last
month, Melrose chief executive
Simon Peckham said: “Nortek is a
high quality manufacturing
business with over 90 per cent of
its turnover in North America
and product penetration into 80
per cent of US households.
“It serves attractive end
markets at good points in their
cycle, with strong brands and
market positions. Nonetheless
there remains solid potential for
further improvement under
Melrose’s guidance.”
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