UK budget computer firm Raspberry Pi’s shares soared as much as 40% on Tuesday morning after its initial public offering (IPO).
Raspberry Pi’s shares hit 392p in early trading, above its IPO price of 280p, which was announced before markets opened.
The IPO terms suggested a valuation of £541.6 million, the company said in a stock market update. Raspberry Pi said the listing would raise £166 million.
Shares began trading in “conditional dealing”, where institutional investors and those on the London Stock Exchange on June 11, with a full open trade due to begin on Friday.
Eben Upton, chief executive of Raspberry Pi, said: “The quality of the interactions during the marketing process has underlined our belief that London has the right calibre and sophistication of investor to support growing, ambitious technology businesses such as Raspberry Pi.
“The reaction that we have received is a reflection of the world-class team that we have assembled and the strength of the loyal community with whom we have grown.”
The IPO has been hyped as a welcome victory for the London market, which has been hit by a swathe of UK-listed firms being bought out or defecting abroad.
Paddy Power-owner Flutter has moved its main stock market listing to New York while German-owned Tui approved a plan to delist from London in February, and in another blow UK chip maker Arm Holdings chose Wall Street over London for its stock market return.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the listing was a “warm welcome” from investors.
She added: “This is a sign that there is life in the London stock market, and companies can derive value from listing in London.
“It is also a decent payday for the company’s founders and directors.
“While the value PC maker has a small listing, especially compared to some of the tech giants in the US, it is a company with links to its bigger brothers and sisters in the tech sector, and prior to listing it had recently secured funding from Sony – and Arm is one of its cornerstone investors.”
It comes amid reports that Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein is also preparing to file for a listing in London.
Arm and fellow Raspberry Pi investor Lansdowne Partners have agreed to also buy 35 million US dollars (£27.5 million) and 20 million US dollars (£15.7 million) worth of shares respectively as part of the IPO plans.
Raspberry Pi said it would use cash from the equity raised for engineering projects, improving its supply chain, and other general corporate purposes.
Raspberry Pi was founded by computer scientist Eben Upton in 2008 before releasing its first product in 2012.
It has since sold more than 60 million of its single board computers alone.
The group’s products are sold across more than 70 countries worldwide.
It is a subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation – a UK charity founded when the company was set up in 2008, with the goal of promoting interest in computer science among young people.
As a major shareholder in Raspberry Pi, the foundation has received around 50 million US dollars (£39.7 million) in dividends since 2013, which has been used to advance its educational mission globally, according to the group.
Raspberry Pi reported revenues of 265.8 million US dollars (£211.1 million) in 2023, with operating profits of 37.5 million US dollars (£29.8 million).