NDS will likely seek a London listing in 2012, just three years after an agreement with private equity firm Permira took the News Corp technology firm into private hands.
In a Reuters interview NDS chairman Dr Abe Peled said the London Stock Exchange was the most likely place for the listing. NDS spent ten years on the Nasdaq register in New York until the February 2009 agreement that left News Corp with a 49% holding. The company’s then value was $3.6 billion (€2.7 billion).
Dr Peled, who said profits in 2010 were likely to be 18% more than in 2009, was speaking at the CCBN broadcast technology expo in Beijing where NDS had announced a tie-up with the set-top manufacturer Changhong. The company will join the MediaHighway software developer community, working on two-way services that include public information and interactive advertising.
In his interview Dr Peled indicated that China might also be considered for a secondary listing, though he may have been mindful of the local audience. Asia is expected to represent 17% of NDS revenues in 2010.