Raspberry Pi prices IPO at 280p per share

Raspberry Pi Holdings announced the pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) on Tuesday, at 280p per share, following the confirmation of its intention to float on 22 May.

The pricing set the company's market capitalisation at £541.6m, as it began conditional dealings on London’s Main Market.

It said the global offer comprised 45,935,065 shares sold by the majority shareholder, Raspberry Pi Mid Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, alongside 2,125,115 shares sold by other shareholders, and 11,228,572 shares issued by the company itself.

The issue was expected to raise around £31.4m ($40m), while the total offer size of £166m represented about 30.7% of the company’s ordinary shares upon admission.

Raspberry Pi said the global offer was extended to intermediaries via the Peel Hunt REX portal for retail investors in the UK, with 2,421,921 shares issued through the channel, raising £6.8m.

On admission, Raspberry Pi's issued share capital would total 193,415,715 ordinary shares.

An additional 4,593,506 shares could be available through an over-allotment option, which, if fully exercised, would increase the offer size to £178.9m, representing 33% of the company's shares.

The company, its directors, and the principal shareholder had agreed to lock-up arrangements restricting the sale of shares for periods of 180, 365, and 360 days respectively post-admission.

Conditional dealings in Raspberry Pi’s shares were expected to start on Tuesday at 0800 BST under the ticker ‘RPI’.

Unconditional dealings and the company's admission to the premium listing segment of the FCA's Official List and to trading on the Main Market were anticipated to start on 14 June at 0800 BST.

“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,” said chief executive officer Eben Upton.

“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.

“Welcoming new shareholders alongside our existing ones brings with it a great responsibility, and one that we accept willingly, as we continue on our mission to make high-performance, low-cost computing accessible to everyone.”

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.