CO Antrim manufacturer Tribe Technology has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange.
The Mallusk-based manufacturer of autonomous mining equipment confirmed on Friday morning that it will seek admission of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company to trading on the AIM, which is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.
It will join just a handful of publicly listed companies based in Northern Ireland. That list includes Kainos, FD Technologies, Diaceutics and Fusion Antibodies.
Tribe Technology was originally set up in Western Australia during 2019 by Crossgar native Charlie King.
He later relocated the firm’s base of operations to Northern Ireland and secured an offer of just under £1 million of support from Invest NI.
As part of that 2021 announcement, Tribe said it would create 120 jobs in the north over a five year period.
It currently has firm orders in excess of £10.5m for its first-generation RC (reverse circulation) drill rigs.
The manufacturer already has Northern Irish private equity backers in the guise of Cordovan and Clarendon Fund Managers.
Read more:
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It hopes the retail offering will help attract more investment in the company.
It plans to raise an initial £4.5 million, with the bulk (£3.7m) being used to fulfil the existing order book and increase the group’s level of inventory.
Around £200,000 will be invested in research and development, with another £600,000 earmarked for expansion of its operations and sales division.
“Our technology provides a solution to the RC drill rig market at a time when efficiency and safety are as important as the need to bring much larger amounts of commodities into a rapidly changing world,” said chief executive Charlie King.
“We believe now is the right time to bring our story to the public market and that London, with its international investor base, and a strong knowledge of the mining industry is the right place to start this journey, especially given our production facilities in Northern Ireland.”
