Update: GeoOp in IPO talks with ASX

UPDATE: GeoOp in IPO talks with ASX, process could take another 4-6 weeks

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By Rebecca Howard

Oct. 5 (BusinessDesk) - GeoOp continues to hold discussions with the Australian stock exchange, which has requested a higher minimum initial public offering raise, and said it expects the process to take another four to six weeks.

"Directors regrets this complication and delay. We are working as quickly as possible to conclude the offer," the management app developer said in a release to the New Zealand stock exchange. In July, shareholders approved plans to relocate to the ASX from the NZAX and raise funds via an IPO. Its shares are currently suspended.

GeoOp set a minimum offer size of A$2 million in the prospectus lodged with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission. The board determined the amount provided the maximum certainty of the offer being completed successfully and the company's shares listing on the ASX, while providing enough capital to fund the company’s operations. The offer went ahead and the minimum level of demand was exceeded.

However, just prior to the end of the offer period, ASX advised GeoOp that it required significant additional capital to be raised above this minimum to satisfy its own requirements, GeoOp said. GeoOp chief executive Anna Cicognani told BusinessDesk the ASX has not specified how much it requires. GeoOp must now put forward a proposal and the ASX will either accept or reject it, she said in emailed comments.

However, if the ASX accepts GeoOp's submission for an increased minimum raise, a supplementary prospectus will be filed with ASIC and the offer will resume as "soon as practicable," the company said in the release.

If the offer proceeds, the application funds will be automatically applied to the offer, subject to the new minimum raise amount being achieved, it said. The supplementary prospectus will provide for any investors who have applied for shares to request that their application funds be returned.

GeoOp went public in 2013, selling shares at $1 apiece in a private offer before its compliance listing on the NZAX Alternative Index. The stock last traded on the NZAX at 22 cents before undertaking a two-for-one share consolidation in July which sees it listed at 44 cents. At the time, GeoOp said that was needed to meet the ASX's minimum share price of 20 Australian cents.

The move to an ASX listing would follow its business, with Australia now accounting for 60 percent of sales and its management team already across the Tasman.

GeoOp's products include GeoServices, for mobile workforce and job management, and GeoSales, a mobile sales workforce management app, and it is soon to launch its GeoCare mobile human services management tool. The company has 27,000 clients in 30 countries, including the Auckland Council, Downer and TrustPower.

(BusinessDesk)

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