Condom supplier to list on UK alternative stock exchange

Thatcham, UK-The Sexual Health Group, which supplies condoms to the UK's National Health Service and the British armed forces, is to float on Ofex-a smaller and less heavily regulated version of the UK's Alternative Investment Market.

SHG aims to raise some £850 000 (Euros 1.3 million) for investment and expansion by offering its shares at 16 pence each. The condom supplier's initial market capital will be about £5 million if all the shares are sold, according to a statement from the Thatcham, UK-based group.

The group currently has about a 2-percent share of the UK market through its ownership of Condomania, a condom brand with about 8 percent of the NHS's condom business.

SHG's chairman John French said, “With the Condomania brand already well-placed in the market, coupled with a strong working relationship with the NHS, the group is seeking funds to aggressively develop sales and marketing for the core business, product development and to establish suitable acquisition opportunities.”

Sexual health is a major area of concern to the UK government, and is also a recession-proof business, the firm's statement added. SHG's directors believe that the UK Department of Health's plan to spend £47.5 million on reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections will mean more intensive purchasing by the NHS of sexual health products and more diagnostic tests for STIs.

The photo shows George Sutherland, SHG chief executive officer (l) and John French, chairman (r).