Another week, another IPO

By Duncan Bridgeman

Friday 18th June 2004

Computer share chief executive Mike Smith is getting on the IPO wagon as chairman of the latest company to seek a listing on the NZAX.

Albany-based software company Solution Dynamics (SDL) is today expected to announce plans to raise $2.3 million through a public issue.

Details were scratchy as a prospectus had yet to be signed off but it was understood the company planned an issue price of $1 a share, with the money raised representing 28.6% of the capital.

The company would have a market capitalisation of $8 million.

CEO Rob Ford said the capital raised in the float would be used primarily for expansion and growth opportunities but also to settle small debt.

SDL has four trading subsidiaries, including mailing house Comit, software developer Dejar International, Complete Print Solutions and Complete Data Services. Clients include American Express, TelstraClear, Computer share and the National Heart Foundation.

Auckland-based Dejar last year struck a deal with French-owned KB Bank in Prague to install a digital archive system. It is now a major contributor to SDL, which has a turnover of about $12 million.

Dejer's software takes print spools of large documents and saves them in the format of their components, rather than the final image. This means less data needs to be stored and elements such as dates and account numbers can be used to search for documents.

Smith said further joint ventures were planned for the UK and Europe to market Dejer's software.

"We anticipate these joint ventures will provide the beach head for other parts of the SDL Group to expand offshore."

Entrepreneurs Craig Pellett and Dave Thornber, who are also company directors, formed the company nine years ago. None of the existing shareholders were selling down.

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