Brulines to float on AIM

Brulines, a provider of volume- and revenue-protection systems for draught alcoholic drinks in the UK off-trade, has announced its intention to float on AIM, only a year after managing director James Dickson led a management buyout of the company.

The company’s business model was developed after the Beers Order Act to help emerging pub companies manage their supply chain more effectively. Brulines’ core product measures the volume of liquid dispensed every hour against legitimate deliveries and protects pub owners from potential loss of revenue from buying out beer through unofficial supply channels.

The placing is intended to raise £15 million gross, £8m of which has been set aside to help the firm develop value-added services for its clients while the remaining £7m is to be divided among the selling shareholders, who include Derrick Collin, Brulines’ current non-executive chairman, who is reducing his stake in the company from 40% to 10%.

Since the mid-90s, Brulines has developed a database that includes information on approximately 3.25 billion cumulative pints pulled across England, Scotland and Wales for pub operators such as Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns, Wolverhampton & Dudley and Greene King.

Brulines claims that, since August 2004, the service has recovered in excess of £3m for its customers in liquidated damages and fines, with a 100% success rate on the injunctions served. The firm estimates that more than 85% of licensed premises that currently have a dispense monitoring system use its system.

© db June 2006