ICL denies flotation stalled

ICL quietly cancelled its planned £1 billion sale of its Finnish subsidiary Invia last month, raising possible question marks over its own proposed public offering later this year.

"We received advice that the time was not suitable because the market was not looking healthy," an ICL spokesman told Computing. He could not say when the Invia float, scheduled for the end of June, would now take place, but admitted "it is not imminent".

ICL also denied that the cancellation would affect its own return to the market. "There is no knock-on effect on the main flotation - we are still looking at this year."

When ICL's 1999 results were announced in May, chief executive Keith Todd reiterated his commitment to offering shares to the public. "ICL continues to look for ways of creating shareholder value, including relisting our shares on the London Stock Exchange later this year."

Anthony Miller, of analyst Richard Holway, said, however, that on the balance of probabilities, the float probably won't take place. "I think [the cancellation of the Invia sell-off] is a sign that it is looking at other possibilities than a flotation. Our view is that ICL is worth more as separate parts than as a whole because there is no cohesion between the parts."

ICL consists of a number of good businesses on the services side that could be attractive to other players, according to Miller, raising the possibility of a so-called 'trade sale' to other IT firms of some parts of the services giant, such as Computer Sciences, Sema or Logica.

"There has been no discussion of a trade sale at all. The commitment is to an IPO," said ICL.