It should be the very essence of ‘buy-and-build’ to recognise that if two plus two only equals three (at least from a valuation perspective), then maybe one plus three is a better equation.
It’s not a precise analogy in the case of the recently Maxima-enhanced AIM -listed managed infrastructure provider Redstone (see Smith brings Maxima to the Redstone party), but you’ll get the gist, given that Redstone is to spin out its network managed services operations into a separately quoted company to be called Redcentric. The existing ‘infrastructure solutions’ business will retain the Redstone brand and its AIM listing.
Redstone has already raised £6m in a share placing to effect the demerger, which is expected to be blessed by shareholders in early March. If subsequent approvals are granted, Redcentric will start trading on AIM mid-April.
I expect to write more on this in a future UKHotViews Extra post (subscribers only, of course). But suffice it to say for now that I met up recently with Redstone CEO Tony Weaver and arch-entrepreneur Ian Smith, his business partner in corporate finance firm MXC Capital, an active investor in the sector (e.g. see Accumuli buries Webscreen in Juniper). Their thoughts about the future for their various businesses are both intriguing and exciting!