The shareholdings of chairman Mr Eddie Kerr and chief executive Mr Liam Young will be worth more than €50 million (£39.4 million) each when telephone directory assistance company, Conduit, begins trading on the Neuer Market in Frankfurt today.
Among the other beneficiaries of the flotation will be Dublin solicitor Mr Laurence K. Shields and Formula One entrepreneur, Mr Eddie Jordan.
Shares in the company are expected to rise sharply after Conduit priced the offering of 3.5 million shares at €16 each, at the top of the previously indicated range.
At this flotation price, Conduit will have a starting valuation of €280 million and the two 20.5 per cent stakes held by Mr Kerr and Mr Young will be worth €57.4 million (£45.21 million) each.
The 3.5 million being sold will raise €56 million before expenses for Conduit with about two-thirds of the shares being sold to continental institutions. The rest of the share offering is being sold to Irish institutions and private investors through Merrion Capital.
Apart from the combined 41 per cent owned by Mr Kerr and Mr Young, after the flotation the Finnish telecoms group Sonera will own 10 per cent, Enterprise Ireland just more than 4 per cent, Conduit management just less than 9 per cent while private investors including Mr Shields and Mr Jordan and others will own just more than 12 per cent.
Conduit was founded in 1996 and currently employs 650 people with sales of just more than €11 million in the year to the end of March.
The company provides directory assistance services in Ireland, Austria and Switzerland and has recently joined with Sonera of Finland to provide directory assistance services in the UK.
Between €15 million and €20 million will be invested in the new British operation, more will be spent on a new call centre in Switzerland. Conduit is also planning to enhance its software development operations.
In Ireland, Conduit offers the 11850 directory service which competes head-on with Eircom's 11811 service.
Conduit has spent £750,000 marketing its Irish service and claims to have doubled its market share to 30 per cent since the old 1190 directory service went out of action.
It also provides enquiries services for Esat and Esat Digifone and the British mobile operator Orange.
Conduit has gone ahead with a listing in Frankfurt without any other listing in Dublin, London or Nasdaq.
Mr Kerr said that the Neuer Market - where Irish software group Trintech is also listed - is particularly suitable for Conduit. Telegate, a German company similar to Conduit, is already listed on the Neuer Market.
