Whiteboard maker Promethean plans IPO

LONDON (Reuters) - Promethean, a manufacturer of interactive whiteboards, is planning an initial public offering that would value the company at 400 million to 500 million pounds, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The company, based in Blackburn, England, is a world leader in interactive whiteboards which feature in around three-quarters of classrooms in British schools, the paper said.

A 400 million-pound IPO would value Promethean at 18 times last year's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 22 million pounds. The valuation is driven by huge growth potential in America, where only a quarter of classrooms are equipped with interactive technology.

Promethean has appointed Gleacher Shacklock as a financial adviser and Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and JP Morgan (JPM.N) as global coordinators for an IPO next year, said the Financial Times.

Promethean were not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by William James; editing by Matthew Lewis)