Dermot Smurfit has been appointed chairman of a US tele-conferencing company that plans to raise £14 million (€20.46 million) in an initial public offering on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).
Wire One Holdings announced yesterday that the former chairman of Smurfit Europe would become the company's non-executive chairman. From 1997 to 2002, Dr Smurfit was joint deputy chairman of Jefferson Smurfit Group.
Wire One, whose main focus is videoconferencing services, has more than 300 employees and across the US and in the UK.
Customers include Fortune 100 companies, educational institutions and the US government.
Last year, Wire One's revenues totalled $110 million (€86.38 million). Funds raised in the flotation will help repay bank loans and fund working capital. The Gores Group, a US venture capitalist, is backing the firm.
According to Frost & Sullivan, a US-based market research firm, the videoconferencing market worldwide could be worth $3.24 billion by 2010, up from an estimated $1.25 billion last year.
Calling the videoconferencing industry in Europe "highly fragmented", Wire One's president Leo Flotron said the company was set to expand into western Europe. Currently, the European market makes up less than 5 per cent of revenues.
Admission to the AIM "dovetails well with our strategy", he said.
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