Armadillo eyes IPO

Security VAR says it has turned down three approaches this year as it eyes future public listing

The managing director of Armadillo has said the security VAR has turned down three approaches this year as it looks to benefit from its independence and target a public listing further down the line.

Although he would not disclose who they were from, Mark Newns told CRN the RSA and Fortinet partner rejected the advances of three suitors this year, with the reseller preferring to target a future listing on the London Stock Exchange.

"If you look at the marketplace, there are two larger consultant companies bigger than Armadillo, so we are one of the top three largest independents in the UK," he said. "We will be looking to capitalise on that.

"There is an absolute advantage for us to stay independent for as long as possible and potentially look at an AIM listing over the next two to three years. We have had three approaches this year which we have turned down.

"We see the benefit of being independent and we are driving towards an AIM listing."

As part of its growth plans, Armadillo this month enlisted former Exclusive Networks major account manager Toby Caton as its new sales director.

"I was at Exclusive Networks for six years, and I felt my time there had come to an end and I needed a new challenge," Caton said.

"I have known Mark [Newns] for a long time and I guess what Mark liked was that I had a lot of experience in the IT industry; I have been in it for about 20 years. I have worked for a reseller, a distributor and a vendor so I have a lot of relationships in a lot of different places, and business is all about relationships."

Newns said that Caton, who replaces interim sales director Joe Bridgeman who is carrying on in a consultancy role, was brought in to help him "achieve the next stage of growth for Armadillo".

For its current year ending 31 January, Newns said he expects revenues to be around £8m and he is hoping to double that over the next 18 months.

The company was founded in 2001, and Newns said this experience places it strongly to achieve its future aspirations.

"One of the reasons we brought Toby on is because we want to focus on our core capabilities. For us this is growing the managed services side and looking at some of the innovative products we see in the marketplace. We also want to develop the consultancy side of the business.

"We have had incredible success and we have been part of the managed security industry since its infancy and have seen different waves come along over the years. As a business, we believe we are in a strong position to support our clients and become a trusted adviser around cybersecurity."

The Uxbridge-based firm, which lists among its customers GSK and Deutsche Bank, is split 50-50 between the enterprise and SME space.