Dublin gaming firm eyes £10 million IPO

Dublin-headquartered Keywords Studios, which provides video game services for Microsoft, Electronic Arts and Disney, is seeking to raise £10 million (€11.8 million) in an initial public offering on London's Alternative Investment Market.

The company announced yesterday it intends to float on the AIM, an arm of the London Stock Exchange, and is hoping to raise £10 million to expand into new markets, extend its services and make some acquisitions.

The IPO will value the company at £50-£60 million.

Chief executive Andrew Day said London's AIM was chosen due to its reputation as a stock market for growing companies, particularly high-growth technology companies: "We also considered floating on Nasdaq but ultimately chose AIM because it is more familiar to us."

Launched in 1998, Keywords tests video games and provides assistance in translation and cultural adaptation. It has worked on games such as Guitar Hero, Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, Tomb Raider, Halo 4 and Farmville 2.

It employs 120 full-time staff and reported pretax profit of €2.74 million on revenues of €14.3 million last year. Since 2010, profits have grown 158 per cent.

Keywords was launched in 1998 and has offices in Dublin, Tokyo, Rome, Seattle and Montreal.