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Australian Financial Review: ELMO Talent Management hires Blackpeak Capital to consider IPO

Cloud-based human resources company ELMO has hired boutique adviser Blackpeak Capital to consider capital raising initiatives, including an initial public offering.

As revealed by Street Talk on Wednesday, fast-growing ELMO, which snapped up e-learning provider Techniworks Action Learning last month, may seek to raise $40 million. It plans to expand into the United States within the next 12 months.

The company will be pitched as a high-growth opportunity for small-cap fund managers, and tap into investor demand for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies as seen at the likes of software developer WiseTech Global and New Zealand-based accounting software firm Xero.

Founded in 2002, ELMO’s software suite includes solutions for automating recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance, succession and leave management.

It has over two million users across 25 industries; recorded 50 per cent year-on-year growth in revenue since inception; and maintained greater than 90 per cent of its revenue from recurrent software license fees.

Blackpeak Capital is also financial adviser to 2017 IPO candidate Soprano Design and listed Wisetech earlier this year.

Blackpeak managing director Scott Colvin said, “The HR industry is as excited about technological disruption as any other, and ELMO’s product is remarkable in its ability to reduce the time burden for busy HR executives.”

It’s one thing to plan an initial public offering, but it’s another thing to actually do one. Investor skepticism towards news floats is growing and technology stocks worldwide are not exactly flavour of the month.

That said, WiseTech went public in April, raising $168 million, and despite some fund managers believing its $3.35 issue price was overvalued, the company has continued to trade up, last closing at $6.

Elsewhere in floats, ASX aspirant and lithium company MetalsTech is in the process of lodging a prospectus with the corporate regulator to raise about $6 million.

MetalsTech, which is targeting Quebec for exploration, will be chaired by Russell Moran, founder and former executive director of ASX-listed mine developer Atrum Coal.

His offsider and fellow founding shareholder of Atrum, Gino D’Anna, will also hold a board seat. EverBlu Capital is managing the IPO.