Box Nation, the TV channel dedicated solely to boxing, is aiming to raise £5 million (€5.8m) through an initial public offering on London’s Aim market.

A float would give the company a market capitalisation of as much as £19 million. “There’s enough hardcore fans for our business to work. And boxing, when it’s big, is still absolutely massive” said Richard Brooke, executive chairman of the channel, which has 100,000 subscribers on Sky, Virgin and online platforms.

The spiralling cost of sports rights, including BT Group’s recent £897 million deal to show Champions League football, has led some investors to worry about a squeeze on profits at major pay-TV providers.

Box Nation derives much of its content under a renewable six-year deal with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions (a shareholder in BoxNation). Its main competitor in the UK is Sky Sports.

Last financial year it made a pre-tax loss of £4.9m on revenues of £9.7m, and will not make a profit until 2015, according to analysts at Allenby Capital.

It intends to use to proceeds of the listing on London’s junior market to buy more sporting rights and to market the channel to more consumers

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