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 STG wins IPO of the Year (24/01/06)

Strategic Thought is proud to announce that it won "IPO of the Year" at the 2006 Quoted Company Awards on 24th January, in an evening that recognised the achievements of quoted companies listed below the FTSE 350.

The Quoted Company Awards, sponsored by Grant Thornton, are organised annually by Vitesse Media's Growth Company Investor magazine.

The company was admitted to AIM in July 2005, having raised £3 million in a placing of shares with institutional investors, which was three times oversubscribed. The share price has more than doubled since floatation. In November, the company acquired Bristol-based Line International Limited which has its own risk management software product, "RisGen", targeted at small to medium enterprises.

The Judges commented,

"This was perhaps the most difficult category this year, given the fact that 2005 witnessed a record number of IPO's. And although Strategic Thought was not the largest IPO in terms of money raised, the group nevertheless deserves recognition for using AIM very effectively. This is a quality company with strong products in the risk management solutions sector. Its first set of results saw earnings-per-share almost double and it has used AIM not only to enhance its reputation in the eyes of its blue chip client base but also to accelerate its acquisition strategy. And just in case we forget, its share price performance this year has been stellar."

Richard Higgs, CEO, was thrilled and remarked,

"The fact that Strategic Thought was chosen for this award out of the many companies which came to market is testimony to the strength of our business strategy. Since our admission to AIM, the company has flourished and we look forward to further success as we continue to benefit from our status as a publicly listed company."

Background to the Quoted Company Awards

The Quoted Company Awards, sponsored by Grant Thornton, are organised annually by Vitesse Media’s Growth Company Investor magazine. The Quoted Company Awards, now in their second year, recognise the achievements of quoted companies listed below the FTSE 350. They take a fresh and innovative look at the quoted company market and reward the outstanding contributions of individuals active in public companies. The Awards adopt a comprehensive, independent and unique judging approach to quoted small caps from below FTSE 350 through to AIM and OFEX.

The award for IPO of the year was supported by Pinsent Masons.

The Judging – The shortlists for the Awards were drawn-up from both nominations and exhaustive research by Growth Company Investor's award winning team of analysts. The panel of judges then ranked the shortlists to select the winners. The judges were:

• Peter Ashworth, Charles Stanley
• Leslie Copeland, Growth Company Investor
• Richard Feigen, Seymour Pierce
• Giles Hargreave, Hargreave Hale Limited
• Oliver Hemsley, Numis
• Jenny Little, Financial Mail on Sunday
• Sean O’Flanagan, Unicorn Asset Management
• John Pierce, Quoted Companies Alliance
• Tom Price, Evolution Securities
• Philip Secrett, Grant Thornton
• Graham Shore, Shore Capital
• Sara Williams, Vitesse Media