From AFR:Complete silence from Bigtincan since early March, when...

From AFR:
Complete silence from Bigtincan since early March, when it last updated investors that its advisers at Morgan Stanley were still “progressing the management and evaluation of inbound inquiries and expressions of interest regarding potential control transactions”.

Morgan Stanley, for the record, came on after inbound interest from SQN Investors, a North American asset manager with an interest in technology.

SQN had made, in November an 80¢ per share takeover offer for the company. For almost one month, and reasons unexplained, Bigtincan said nothing to shareholders about this takeover offer. A subsequent Street Talk report of a capital raise led to further animosity between the parties.

Bigtincan appears not to have learnt from that episode. Siris Capital, a New York private equity firm, made its own 80¢ per share bid for Bigtincan in March or April, sources have told Street Talk. Siris, which has raised around $9 billion in capital since it was founded in 2011, is currently looking for investment opportunities of between $500 million and $5 billion.

Not a word, of course, from Bigtincan.

Bigtincan is being advised by Morgan Stanley’s Brendan Lee, while Barrenjoey’s Luke Bentvelzen is understood to be close to Siris.

Siris has had some dealings with local groups before, in July 2021 snapping up North American professional and investor services firm American Stock Transfer and Trust Company from Pacific Equity Partners. The deal for the company, the second-largest provider of share registries in the US behind Computershare, was valued at $US630 million ($947 million).

Confession time

Like with SQN, Bigtincan did not provide Siris with access to due diligence. In November, around the time of SQN’s approach, Bigtincan shares were trading at around 70¢. On Friday, despite a 6.4 per cent one-day increase, shares closed at 50¢. They are down more than 27 per cent in six months alone, as volatility pushes down technology stocks overall.

Bigtincan, founded in 2011 in Sydney, provides sales-enablement software to companies spanning a variety of industries from financial services to retail, helping users close sales faster. In its March update, the company said annual recurring revenues were on track to hit a previously flagged range of between $137 million and $143 million this financial year. Revenues would be between $123 million and $128 million, while Bigtincan expected to reach cash flow breakeven in the last quarter of the year ending June 30.

Its expected cash flow position and near profitability is why some investors, including Forager Funds Management, felt the previously disclosed 80¢ per share bid from SQN was opportunistic and undervalued the company.

That might still be the case, but perhaps that’s something for investors to decide.