Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales to debut The People’s Operator on market

Commercial mobile network The People’s Operator (TPO) has raised £20m ahead of its listing on Aim tomorrow, which has attracted strong interest from institutional investors such as Aviva, JP Morgan and Allianz.

 

The company, led by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, plans to use the funds raised to expand internationally. TPO recently signed a contract with US network op­erator Sprint and will begin rolling out SIM services and handsets in the US in spring 2015. Wales is currently in the Middle East “exploring the market”.

 

He told CityAM that TPO decided to list, “because we wanted to have the transparency that being a public company provides”. 

 

Wales also stated that the company’s expansion would include launching a new social network. “It’s exciting because when you can create a network that’s viral you can achieve very fast growth without having to spend a lot on marketing,” he said.

 

 

1 Andrews, who qualified as an accountant at Price Waterhouse, is head of corporate finance at FinnCap, which he joined in early 2012.

 

2 He previously worked at Beeson Gregory and Evolution Securities and has worked on about 20 IPOs and over 100 market public market transactions in his career.

 

3 He is well placed to advise The People’s Operator on the alternative investment market (Aim) – he’s also a member of the Aim Advisory Group.

 

FinnCap is the firm’s nominated adviser and broker. MHP Communications is handling press relations for the flotation