NEWPORT-ON-TAY, Scotland - I-Design Group PLC, the media company behind the ATM:ad advertising solution, has announced plans to join the London Stock Exchange's junior market, AIM.
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| Ana Stewart is the founder and CEO of i-Design. |
According to a news release, i-Design is raising approximately £3.5 million (U.S. $7 million) from new investors. The company says it is seeking admission of its ordinary shares for trading on AIM to enable it to fund its next growth phase, which includes: expanding the group's London-based sales and operations team; developing software sales in the United Kingdom and new territories such as Greece, Ireland, Germany, Spain, the Benelux countries and the United States; expanding customer support; continuing product enhancement; and building working capital.
Company directors say admission to AIM will raise i-Design's profile, enhance its credibility in the market and increase its brand awareness.
Founded in 1991 by chief executive Ana Stewart, i-Design has developed an ATM advertising solution that delivers marketing campaigns and third-party advertising across ATM estates. The company's ATM:ad advertising solution launched in 2004.
"I-Design has developed an unrivalled ATM-advertising solution which enables network owners to generate additional revenues and advertisers to target customers on a one-to-one basis across multiple networks," Stewart, 38, said. "This is an exciting period of growth for us as we seek to expand our sales both in the U.K. and abroad."
I-Design's target market includes banks and building societies with ATM estates that comprise a high numbers of non-branch/off-premises ATMs.
Customers of ATM:ad include Nationwide Building Society and HSBC. The ATM:ad solution is installed on more than 2,100 ATMs in the U.K., delivering approximately 210 million transactions per annum. I-Design has managed ATM advertising for a variety of advertisers, including British Airways, Easyjet, Orange, Vodafone, Camelot, Kwik-Fit, Nivea, New Look, Orion and the Central Office of Information.
In the UK, there are currently a total of approximately 60,000 ATMs, with retail banks and building societies' ATMs responsible for some 95 percent of all UK ATM transactions.
With the operational costs of ATM networks growing and significant consumer opposition to bank and building society ATM charges, the directors believe that network owners are increasingly looking for alternative ways to generate additional revenues to make their ATMs more profitable and that ATM: ad represents an attractive proposition.
On admission to AIM, i-Design's market capitalization is expected to be approximately £9.5 million (U.S. $19.4 million).
Arbuthnot Securities Ltd. is acting as the company's adviser and broker.
