ASX-listed Livetiles drafts in Credit Suisse for defenceSarah...

ASX-listed Livetiles drafts in Credit Suisse for defence

Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd

Feb 2, 2021 – 9.32pm

Save

Share

The tech rally has left ASX-listed workplace software business Livetiles Limited behind, and don’t a bunch of offshore private equity funds know it.

LiveTiles chief executive and big shareholder Karl Redenbach. 
Street Talk understands small-cap Livetiles has called in Credit Suisse’s investment bankers as defence advisers, after fielding approaches from some specialist software buyout types offshore.
While interest was said to be early-stage and there was no formal process under way, Livetiles is understood to be keen to explore its options. If there’s someone who is serious about paying up for the company, then they may as well know all about it.
Sources reckon a lot of the attention on Livetiles stems from its languishing share price, which has fallen more than 16 per cent in the past 12 months to 20¢, while the ASX all tech index is up 40 per cent.
On top of that – and while it’s far from an apples for apples comparison – Aussie-founded employee management software Atlassian is trading at 25 times forward revenue, while Livetiles is sitting at two to three times.

Advertisement

All that spells a potential bargain price for a cashed-up suitor, and maybe a chance to realise some value by taking the company private.
Founded in 2014, the $185 million Livetiles sells a bunch of software products including Reach, its internal communications tool and workplace intranet that’s used by the likes of Tabasco hot sauce maker McIlhenny Company.
It generated $64.7 million annualised recurring revenue at December 31 from more than 1100 customers and had $19.2 millin cash on hand.
Headquartered in New York City, Livetiles listed on the ASX in 2015, via a reverse takeover of Modun Resources handled by Sydney broker Blue Ocean Equities. Its biggest shareholders are founders Karl Redenbach and Peter Nguyen-Brown, according to its most recent annual report