Security consultancy ECSC set for stock exchange float

ECSC is set to launch on the London Stock Exchange next week and expects to raise around £5m

Security services provider ECSC is set to float on the London Stock Exchange next week as it looks to raise around £5m.

Founded in 2000 and based in Bradford, ECSC plans to open a London office and increase its headcount from 50 to 200 by the end of 2018.

The MSP reported revenue of £2.7m for the 12 months ending 30 September 2015 - with a gross profit of £2.2m - and CEO Ian Mann said the increasing number of highly publicised cybersecurity breaches is a factor in the decision to go public.

"We believe the ongoing cybersecurity breaches affecting some of the world's most prominent companies are making cybersecurity an important issue for company boards," he said.

"We feel therefore that this is an ideal time for an established and proven provider of cybersecurity services with a blue-chip client base to list on AIM and accelerate its growth.

"We have already initiated a clear strategy and a carefully prepared plan to scale ECSC and we believe that the listing will enable us to take the company to the next phase and capitalise on the strong market opportunities available to us."

ECSC claims to work with 10 per cent of FTSE 100 companies and carries a number of security vendors including Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, and Juniper Networks for firewall solutions; McAfee and Symantec on the end-point; and LogRhythm, Splunk and OSSEC for security information and event management.

It says it will use the proceeds of the IPO to "dramatically scale up and accelerate its growth strategy", with plans to open an Australian security operations centre.

The firm is set to float on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange on 14 December, listing 2.9 million ordinary shares at 167p each, which would give it a market capitalisation of £15m.