Shakespeare Martineau advises Crossword Cybersecurity on £13.6m AIM float
Crossword Cybersecurity, the technology and consulting company focusing on the cyber security sector, has floated on the AIM market in London a market capitalisation of approximately £13.6 million, following a successful placing and subscription of approximately £2.0 million before expenses.
Crossword Cybersecurity plc focuses on the development and commercialisation of university research-based cyber security related software and cyber security consulting. The Group’s specialist cyber security product development and software engineering teams work with its university partners to develop the research concept into a fully-fledged commercial product that it will then take to market.
The Group’s aim is to build up a portfolio of revenue generating, intellectual property based, cyber security products. Rizikon Assurance, Crossword’s first product, is a SaaS platform that enables medium to large companies to assess the cyber maturity and GDPR readiness of their suppliers. Crossword’s team of expert cyber security consultants leverages years of experience in national security, defence and commercial cyber intelligence and operations to provide bespoke advice tailored to its clients’ business needs.
The company will use the funds raised principally to further develop the Crossword Cybersecurity plc’s Group’s operations and to support existing and future contracts.
We advised on all corporate and commercial aspects of the listing, together with their company secretarial team who’ve worked with Crossword Cybersecurity since its inception. Grant Thornton acted as nominated advisor and Hybridan as corporate finance brokers. The team included Catherine Moss, Jennie Davis and Hannah Maxwell (Corporate Finance), Kim Walker and Andrew Hartshorn (Intellectual Property), Jon Heuvel (Employment) and Ben Harber and Shaun Zulafqar (Company Secretarial). Polish Law advice was provided by Adrian Michalak and Jakub Jedrzejak of WKB Wierciński, Kwieciński, Baehr Sp. K, fellow members of the Multilaw Legal Network with Shakespeare Martineau LLP.
Catherine Moss, corporate finance partner in the London office of Shakespeare Martineau, who led on the transaction, said: “Crossword Cybersecurity is undertaking valuable work commercialising the endeavours of the academic cybersecurity community at a time when cybersecurity is high on the agenda for businesses, public institutions and individuals. Listing on AIM is a confident move which reflects the strength of the Company’s business proposition. It was a pleasure for our team, and WKB, to assist Tom Ilube, and his team, in reaching this important milestone.”