GeoOp latest tech darling as shares soar on NZAX debut

Thursday 31st October 2013

GeoOp, whose software allows small businesses to manage their workforce, soared 140 percent in its debut on the NZAX after it sold shares in a private offering, raising $10 million to fund its global growth.

The shares first traded at $2.40, having sold at $1 apiece in an offering the company says was more than three times oversubscribed, and has been volatile in trading since then, trading as low as $1.38, before settling at $2, valuing the company at $54.5 million.

That compares to a listing value of about $27 million. The company had revenue of $124,000 in the year ended March 31, for a loss of $312,000, according to its last annual report.

Chief executive Leanne Graham said users of its software as a service, which costs $20 per mobile user, climbed to 4,500 in September from 1,600 in January. About 55 percent of its customers are in Australia and about 17 percent in North America.

Graham owns about 23 percent of the company, according to Companies Office records, behind Nicholas and Russell Bartlett with 24 percent. Chairman Mark Weldon, former CEO of NZX and now a central Otago wine maker, owns 6.6 percent via his company Terra Sancta Ltd.

The company said its mobile software was typically targeting sole traders in small to medium sized businesses with up to 200 field staff. Its software is available via the Apple App store, Google Play and its own website.

The software helps small businesses manage "every part of their work, from creating to viewing a job, to assigning and scheduling it, creating quotes, accessing parts lists, carrying out the job and completing the invoicing and payments process," the company says.

GeoOp was advised by investment bank Cameron Partners and law firm Bell Gully.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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