Raspberry Pi has announced the successful pricing of its initial public offering (IPO) at 280 pence a share on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), resulting in a market capitalisation of approximately £541.6m.

The offer comprises almost 46 million ordinary shares being sold to the company’s existing majority shareholder, Raspberry Pi Mid Co Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

A further 2.1 million shares have been sold by certain other shareholders, while 11 million ordinary shares have been issued to the company to raise approximately £31.4m.

Overall, the total offer size equates to £166m, representing 30.7% of the company’s ordinary shares on admission.

The tech firm has said that it will use the money raised to fund engineering projects, improve its supply chain and other general corporate purposes.

Chief executive officer at Raspberry Pi, Eben Upton, said: "The quality of the interactions during the marketing process has underlined our belief that London has the right calibre and sophistication of investor to support growing, ambitious technology businesses such as Raspberry Pi. The reaction that we have received is a reflection of the world-class team that we have assembled and the strength of the loyal community with whom we have grown.

"Welcoming new shareholders alongside our existing ones brings with it a great responsibility, and one that we accept willingly, as we continue on our mission to make high-performance, low-cost computing accessible to everyone."

The floating comes as a welcome break for the LSE, after many firms, such as Flutter and ARM, have moved to alternative stock markets in recent months.

Analysts have noted that the UK can "still compete" against other stock markets and support firms that have been founded and developed in the UK.

Investment analyst at AJ Bell, Dan Coatsworth, added: "Investors of all shapes and sizes have feasted on a slice of Raspberry Pi in what is the most significant IPO for the London market for a long time. It may only fall into smaller company territory, but this IPO is big from a strategic perspective.

"It shows the UK is open for business to technology flotations and that investors are hungry for companies of any size if they tick the right boxes. There is a widely held view that tech companies only float in the US where they can potentially get a higher valuation. Raspberry Pi is proof that the UK can still compete against the likes of the Nasdaq and attract home-grown champions.

"Raspberry Pi is a profitable, established name and not reliant on the 'jam tomorrow' story that often props up a lot of tech IPOs. It has a large community of users, it makes money rather than simply being a bright idea that is not yet commercialised, and there is a strong social angle as Raspberry Pi has education built into its business model."

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