Green Man Gaming set to launch on stock exchange

 
Green Man Gaming, a digital retail company that boasts good year-on-year growth rates, has announced that they intend to float on the London Stock Exchange. The company did not specify a date for their IPO (Initial Public Offering) but Green Man Gaming’s CEO Paul Sulyok spoke at length about the issue and why he feels stock flotation is the next step for his company.

“We have grown this company from a topline perspective from between 25 and 30% year on year,” Sulyok said, before explaining that the money raised from the stock flotation will allow the company to invest in three areas: marketing, acquisitions and internationalising the company.

Green Man began life in 2009 as a business that, in the words of Sulyok, “wanted to buy and sell digital games.” Back then the company only had a few employees. Today it has 100, plus customers in almost 200 countries, millions of game sales per year and 4.7 million registered users.

The company’s turnover in 2014 was £16.2 million. Last year it was £47.5 million. Despite the impressive growth figures Green Man Gaming is not yet a profitable business, a potential concern for investors, but Sulyok emphasised that “margin” has always been reinvested in the company and that the niche in which they operate is ripe for expansion.

Steam, the dominant platform for online gaming over the past few years, appears to be losing its stranglehold on the market. Publishers like EA and Ubisoft are choosing to host their own games and Sulyok belives this fragmentation in the market, alongside the “shift from physical to digital,” is a lucrative source of opportunity.
He also expressed thanks to those in the British games industry who’ve “pioneered” flotation on the stock market. Codemasters, Sumo Digital and Team17 have all launched IPOs over the past 12 months and the success of their stock flotations are cited by Sulyok as an inspiration.

With the example of others to follow and clear plans for expansion post-flotation, Green Man Gaming may appeal to industry investors. Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement of the IPO date.