Stock covered in Under the Radar Report, page-6

from the same author

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...k/news-story/c11b23d91217ea5baa5a09ad87a169d2

Macquarie Bank might be a household name in Australia, but out in the big wide world it’s a niche player at best, and eight to 10 years ago it was virtually unknown in the biggest economy in the world … the US.
The bank is never one that I would expect to call a small cap, with a market capitalisation of just more than $25 billion, but it’s about a quarter of the size of the US investment bank behemoth Goldman Sachs, which has a market valuation of close to $US70bn ($100bn).
More to the point, 10 years ago that differential would have been bigger. Fast forward to today after an acquisition program and building up market recognition, Macquarie is one of the most recognised research houses in specialist areas such as infrastructure and utilities.
In the eyes of Wall Street brokers and fund managers Macquarie is a small cap (probably mid-cap) they will view as a company providing access into areas of growth that are unavailable elsewhere.
In a similar way, domestic investors are looking for companies that can export their product to escape domestic doldrums. The market opportunities are much greater, but just as important, the costs of doing so are not prohibitive as they once were. The information gap between countries is less important and now there are high-profile trade agreements, opening up the giant Asian market (read China).
One of the criteria I use when assessing new opportunities is to look for stocks that have global potential, but are priced as if they’re a corner store.
Success in the medical technology sector is a testament to that. There have been some blow-ups, but they have been more than made up for from profits on stocks such as the diagnostic device specialist ImpediMed, the “green whistle” or Penthrox producer Medical Developments and the liver cancer treatment company Sirtex.
There are many other ASX-listed small caps looking for global success. One of the companies in this area is the smart locker specialist TZ Limited (ASX code TZL), which is chaired by Mark Bouris of Yellow Brick Road and television’s The Apprentice. Bouris originally stepped in when TZL was in danger of collapsing after defaulting on a $25 million loan during the financial crisis. TZ’s technology produces “smart features” inside electronic locks, which enables them to be used as security in data centres around the world, and for the online purchasing market. In any year about 150 million parcels are delivered in Australia, but TZ has gained access to much bigger markets in Asia, Europe and the US.
Bouris is perhaps best known for his success in financial services, having sold his business Wizard Home Loans to General Electric for $500m in 2004.
I asked him why he is involved in TZ: “I’m in financial services, but the chance to take a technology, commercialise it and then turn it into an industrial company which takes multiple orders from multiple customers around the world is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
In the past 12 months the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is down 4 per cent, being led by the big banks and the big miners. With most of the market going nowhere, Bouris knows that growth is as highly prized as ever — TZ and Macquarie have more in common than first appearances might suggest.
Richard Hemming ([email protected]) is an independent analyst who edits www.undertheradarreport.com.au