Baltimore Technologies, the Irish internet security firm, today gave the technology market in London a shot in the arm by holding up well through the firm's placing of nearly 40 million shares.

In a rare example of resilience in the technology new issue market, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, the lead managers on the deal, successfully shifted 37.9 million shares in Baltimore at 440p, a discount of less than 1% to the closing price on Wednesday night.