Raspberry Pi appoints London based bankers for IPO listing, possible big win for UK financial capital

Tom's Hardware | Jan. 30, 2024, 9:42 a.m. | Original
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Riding on the success of its latest flagship Raspberry Pi 5 , it seems that Raspberry Pi, valued at around $560 million, is preparing an IPO (Initial Public Offering) via bankers from Peel Hunt and Jefferies, as reported by Bloomberg .

It is still early days, but Raspberry Pi is in the preliminary stages of listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Raspberry Pi has previously considered an IPO. Way back in 2021, we reported on a possible Spring 2022 listing, which saw Raspberry Pi valued at around $493 million. That listing never came to be, and since then, Raspberry Pi has raised money from both Arm Holdings Plc and Sony Group Corp (semiconductor division). Arm, of course, is the source of the Arm CPUs used in all models of Raspberry Pi. The Sony connection stems from a minority stake investment announced in April 2023 . The investment was made with a "view to forming a strategic collaborative Edge AI development framework." Sony is also responsible for the manufacture of Raspberry Pi boards and products in Pencoed, South Wales.

Listing the company on the LSE doesn't mean that US investors will not find the company. In an interview with Bloomberg, Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton talks of conversations with fund managers and has come to the understanding that there is no compelling reason that he is aware of that keeps London-listed firms from accessing American money. The London listing could be seen as a win for UK capital after many companies migrated to the US.

What does this mean for the future of the Raspberry Pi? At a financial level, it means that Raspberry Pi LTD, a private company, will make its shares available for public purchase. So keen Raspberry Pi fans could get themselves a slice of Raspberry Pi.

At a product level, it means that there could be more money invested into the company, which could see more products being released. The recently released Raspberry Pi 5, the first flagship model since the Raspberry Pi 4 in 2019 (the longest ever wait between Raspberry Pi models) is riding high on its success. The success of the Raspberry Pi 5 and the possibility of more investment means that we could see new products sooner rather than later.

We have reached out to Eben Upton for comment and this story will be updated once we have it.

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Les Pounder is an associate editor at Tom's Hardware. He is a creative technologist and for seven years has created projects to educate and inspire minds both young and old. He has worked with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to write and deliver their teacher training program "Picademy".

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