March Networks completes its initial public offering

OTTOWA, Ontario--Digital video surveillance provider March Networks joined the ranks of public companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, in late April with an initial public offering. The company's initial and secondary offerings of more than 5.7 million common shares closed at 12 CDN ($9.59) per share. The move to put the company in the public space stemmed from a recent strong patch of growth, according to President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Strom, and the company was looking for a boost in available capital. "We see a lot of growth ahead of us," Strom said, "and decided this was a way of securing additional capital." The offering also spurs the company's product development, especially in the area of video analytics. But the additional access to capital will be used to identify future acquisitions. "As a well-capitalized company, we will keep an eye out for acquisitions," Strom said. "We will look at companies that have complementary technology and a foothold on a key market." Being based in Canada, the Toronto Stock Exchange was a natural fit for the company's stock, but Strom said the move to list on the AIM was propelled by the desire to grow in the European market, which currently accounts for less than 5 percent of the company's revenues. "We see Europe as a key growth market for us," Strom said. "We'd like to see Europe become about 25 percent of our business." For more on this story see the June issue of Security Systems News.