NewMedia Spark raises £23m

The Internet incubator has exited from its investment in Deutsche Börse, the German stock exchange.

NewMedia Spark, the technology incubator, has sold its 0.83 per cent stake in Deutsche Börse, the German stock exchange, for £23m. It has not disclosed the identity of the buyer.

The group inherited the investment in the exchange early last year when it bought a 54 per cent stake in Spütz, the German brokerage house. Spark then bought the rest of the business in September.

The cash from the sale comes at a convenient time for the company. It will serve to bolster the firm’s coffers following their depletion from £41.5m to £35m in the six months to the end of September last year.

At that time, the company also opted to write down its portfolio by £37.7m to leave its portfolio of 71 companies with a valuation of £145m.

Spütz retains shareholdings in Tullett & Tokyo Liberty, Lang & Schwarz and several other smaller businesses.