“The idea of going public has always been part of our vision for the development of the company. We believe the AeRO addresses a funding void that entrepreneurs felt,” said Mihai Logofatu, general manager of Bittnet (BNET.RO).
The shareholders of the IT training and integration company listed on the AeRO alternative market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Wednesday had aimed for a RON6.61 million capitalization in the first day, but the market valued the company 18% higher at RON7.89 million.
Brothers Mihai and Cristian Logofatu, the company founders, kept 64% in the company, a stake worth more than RON5 million at the latest Bittnet stock price in its first day of trading. The third shareholder, Razvan Capatina, became an investor in Bittnet after reading about the company in Ziarul Financiar.
The fourth significant shareholder is Polish private equity firm Carpathia Capital. The shareholders also include IT entrepreneurs Sergiu Negut, Andrei Pitis and Dan Stefan.
Whereas the position of listed company means free marketing for the two founders, the Bucharest Stock Exchange hopes to see the listing of Bittnet signal other startups in the digital economy they should look for ‘sponsors’ for development on the capital market and join the heavyweights on the main market at some point.
Although it is often suggested that the IT&C sector is Romania’s development driver, and the local companies in the sector are seen as competitive and innovative, no entrepreneur in this business had turned to the stock market for capital or for selling their company before Bittnet’s listing.
“Romania has a number of advantages: fast Internet, young people who are used to working with the Internet, above-average English skills. We have a history in the IT area, many colleges offering IT-related degrees,” said Cristian Logofatu, Bittnet’s chief financial officer.
The founders want to invest the first capital inflow into expanding the marketing team in order to boost the revenue from RON8 million in 2014 to RON30.3 million in 2017.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)