GetSwift has severed ties with Aesir Capital, the broker that advised the last mile logistics provider on the $75 million capital raise at $4 a share.
The break-up comes as as one of the stock's earliest and largest institutional supporters, Regal Funds Management, disclosed it had pared its GetSwift holding to 9.2 per cent of the company from 10.5 per cent.
In a statement to the exchange, Regal revealed it had bought shares in the Aesir-advised placement. The fund bought 2.3 million shares between October and February at between $1.26 and $4 a share, and disposed of 1.2 million between November and February at prices between $1.32 and $3.67, but its percentage of the company shrank because of the December equity issue. GetSwift shares are now trading about 67¢.
The GetSwift raising was by far the largest transaction the broker had undertaken as a sole manager, according to its website. Aesir also advised the company on the $24 million equity raising in June.
Thorney Investments' Alex Waislitz, who has held stock in GetSwift since its ASX float in December 2016, this week urged GetSwift's executive chairman Bane Hunter and managing director Joel Macdonald to
overhaul the company's governance processes and procedures.
Aesir's Sam Kiki, a partner at the firm, is widely credited with bringing Fidelity onto the register in December. Mr Kiki, who did not respond to calls, worked at Fidelity as an analyst in small cap resources in the Sydney office in 2014, working closely with the equity capital markets team, according to the Aesir website.
GetSwift confirmed it had ended its engagement with Aesir. Aesir managing director David Halliday declined to comment, citing client confidentiality.
Aesir also published research with a price target of $7.33, based on a "50/50 blend of our comparables [EV/sales] and discounted cash flow methodologies".
"GetSwift could conceivably grow their revenue from its low base of $1m/year to $200m+/year in the next few years," the report said. The broker said the "commercial five-year agreement with NA Williams" was key.
Litigation funder Vannin Capital and Corrs Chambers Westgarth are investigating
a potential class action around misleading and deceptive statements and continuous disclosure obligations, which would also examine the company's announced contract with NA Williams. Separately, Squire Patton Boggs has lodged a class action in the Federal Court against the company..
Shares in GetSwift
resumed trading this month after being suspended in January following
an article in the Financial Review that revealed GetSwift had not updated the market when it lost previously announced contracts, including The FruitBox contract, which was first announced to market on February 24, 2017.
In its statement to the market, the company said it was "comfortable" that it was now compliant with "listing rule 3.1", which covers disclosure obligations. PwC continues to review GetSwift's continous disclosure policies. The company said less than half its announced contracts had progressed to a revenue generating phase.
