musicMagpie IPO: Pair who founded gadget recycler in garage net £22.1m in AIM float

Founder Steve Oliver said he and co-founder Walt Gleeson would “never in a million years” have imagined this day back in 2007

(musicMagpie)

MusicMagpie, a second-hand gadget seller launched from a Stockport garage, has debuted on London's junior AIM market - netting founders Steve Oliver and Walter Gleeson a total of £22.1 million.

The pair launched the business in 2007 and went on to grow the company into the UK's biggest mobile phone recycler, with millions of products listed on Amazon and eBay.

Gleeson designed the initial version of the company's proprietary technology, which automates decision-making and buying processes for the business and which Oliver describes as its "secret sauce", from home.

The firm floated at 193p per share under the ticker MMAG, implying a market cap of £208 million, with shares rising to 202p in early trading before settling back at around 199p on Thursday morning.

The listing raised £95 million for selling shareholders - including the co-founders who sold down some of their stakes - and £15 million to pay down company debt and fuel latest projects.

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Directors, senior management and employees own around 30% of the company post-admission.

Oliver, who has told the Standard the founders are "hugely proud" and would "never in a million years" have imagined this day back in 2007, said. "This is an exciting new chapter in the musicMagpie story... I am thrilled that our colleagues can now have a direct stake in musicMagpie’s future success."

MusicMagpie joins a notable flurry of tech-enabled businesses floating London so far this year, from fellow AIM floats of Virgin Wines and Parsley Box to the multibillion IPOs of Moonpig and Deliveroo.

Unlike some of those, musicMagpie is profitable. Latest accounts show it made £13.9 million in profits in the year to December on revenues of £153 million.

MusicMagpie also announced that it has received the London Stock Exchange’s Green Economy Mark - a label given to companies deriving over half of revenues from products that contribute to the world’s “green economy”.

Peel Hunt and Shore Capital acted as joint bookrunners and joint brokers on the IPO.

Watch: What are SPACs?

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