NZ’s Straker Translations prepares A$80m Aussie float
Straker Translations is lining up to float on the Australian Stock Exchange next month, the Herald understands.
The float will aim to raise A$21 million at an A$80m ($83m) valuation — a little lighter than the company has previously talked up.
Co-founder Grant Straker was not immediately available for comment, but has previously said his company is on track to break even this year.
The former soldier has been talking up a possible ASX listing since early this year, when he anticipated a NZ$100m valuation.
Earlier this year, he said his company would move into the black this year on revenue that would come in above $20m, with 90 per cent coming from offshore sales.
Straker co-founded Straker Translations with his wife Merryn in 1999, after earlier spending six years in the British Army as a paratrooper before moving into sales.
The company’s software uses artificial intelligence software plus, in places, human experts to translate text — which the chief executive says gives it the edge over free solutions such as Google Translate.
The startup gained momentum in 2015 when Bailador Investments, run by ex-All Black captain David Kirk, invested $6m.
Today, Bailador is the largest single investor with a 20.36 per cent stake, followed by the Strakers with a 10.30 per cent holding.
Straker has used funds from Bailador and other investors to go on a buying spree over the past couple of years, buying up competitors in the US, Ireland and Germany.
The Auckland-based company now has more than 120 staff in offices around the world.
But while it’s a large software company by New Zealand standards, Straker concedes it’s just one of many players in a crowded translations market worldwide.
If the Australian listing does go ahead, Straker will be the latest in an increasingly long line of NZ techs who have opted for an ASX-only float over a local or dual listing — albeit with very mixed results.
The list includes Powerhouse Ventures, Martin Jetpack, Tomizone, Vault Intelligence, Volpara and Xero, which went ASX-only in the new year.
Straker and NZX declined to comment.