A Birmingham couple’s stake in their 65-year-old family business is expected to be valued at £16m after a stock market float, as they cash in on the electric car boom.
Richard Barton and his wife Anne are pursuing a London listing of Strip Tinning, an automotive parts firm that has branched into making circuit boards for electric car batteries.
The move is hoped to raise £11.5m through a 185p per share placing, valuing the firm at around £28m.
Mr Barton said the listing on London’s junior market was a “special day” in the company’s evolution and would provide the money it needed to expand.
Strip Tinning was founded in 1957 by Mr Barton’s father as a wire and coil plating business for the engineering industry.
Since then, it has expanded to become a key player in manufacturing specialist connectors and equipment that underpins heated car window screens.
While these connectors account for 90pc of sales, it is working on six circuit board prototypes for electrical vehicle firms and has forged commercial ties with motoring companies Williams and McLaren.
The business, which employs 130 staff at its Birmingham headquarters, is being backed by investors including River & Mercantile, Canaccord Genuity and Octopus Investments.
Strip Tinning is bracing for growth from its electrical vehicle components arm despite taking a hit during the pandemic. Revenues and pre-tax profits fell by 11pc to £8.8m and from £1.4m to £544,669 respectively in 2020, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Its float comes despite turbulent market conditions forcing a number of firms to push back their listing plans until later in the year.
Investor jitters over new Covid variants at the end of 2021 and more recent concerns over the impact of interest rate rises have led to a sustained bout of market volatility.
Technology shares suffered their worst week since the start of the Covid crisis at the end of January amid fears that a return to the office would drag on lockdown winners such as Netflix and Peloton.
London law firm Mishcon de Reya reportedly postponed its London listing earlier this month until the outlook improves. The Telegraph revealed in December that Dovetail Games, the video games developer, had also delayed a £150m float.
