Inspecs raises £94m in first AIM IPO of 2020

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 2, 2020

Bath-based eyewear manufacturer Inspecs raised a total of £94 million in its initial public offering late last week, becoming the first IPO of 2020 to raise money on AIM.

The company began trading on the AIM stock market of the London Stock Exchange under the ticker “SPEC”.

The CEO of Inspecs, which supplies fashion brands including Superdry, Hype and Radley, said the stock market debut represented a landmark moment for the business. 

The company placed 12,051,282 new ordinary shares with institutional and other investors at a price of 195p per share. Additionally, 36,171,506 existing ordinary shares were placed on behalf of selling shareholders at the placing price. In total, the stock market sale generated proceeds of £94 million, giving Inspecs a market capitalisation of £138 million.

Robin Totterman, CEO of Inspecs said: "Our admission to AIM represents a landmark moment for Inspecs. It will enable the business to grow and develop, both organically and through accretive acquisitions, as we build our market share in the globally expanding eyewear market.

Inspecs signed its first license agreement with French Connection in 1998. It currently distributes to over 80 countries, and has operations across the globe with offices in the UK, Portugal, Scandinavia the US and China (Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen). Inspecs products are manufactured in Vietnam, China, Italy and London.