NFC chipset vendor Inside Secure will later this month raise new finance through an initial public offering on NYSE Euronext Paris, The French vendor will price its offering at between EUR 7 and EUR 8.54 per share and aims to raise up to EUR 79.3 million. The offering is equivalent to 33 percent of the company's share capital. The shares will be listed from February 17. The company originally planned a listing for last summer but dropped it due to wider turmoil in the financial markets.

Inside Secure is a major player in the NFC chipset market although it lags leader NXP which is usually seen as a bellwether for the NFC-enabled handset market. Inside Secure is also facing competition from the likes of Broadcom which has revamped its NFC offering. But this week the French vendor made a bullish announcement that it had shipped 20 million NFC chipsets in the past year. Half that total was shipped in the last three months which the company hopes is a reflection of a regained optimism about NFC technology.