Shareholder clash leads management to recommend £40m takeover deal
Cloudcall, the Leicester-based software and telecommunications firm which is set to be sold in a £40m deal, has posted strong preliminary revenues for 2021.
The firm says that turnover rose by 18.2% last year to £13.6m, with customer numbers also up by 12% to 1,658. The firm’s projected loss will also be less than expected.
In December it was revealed that Xplorer Capital, a newly-formed company, had tabled a £39.9m bid for the company which will see it pay 81.5p for each Cloudcall share. The deal would see the firm taken back into private hands and has now been recommended by the firm’s management team.
Simon Cleaver, CEO, said: “Whilst our team have delivered well in 2021 and I’m immensely proud of what they’ve achieved, I’m also conscious that we are operating in a marketplace where many of our key competitors are materially larger and better capitalised than we are.
“In the coming few months, if we remain as a listed company, we will need to raise significant further capital to fund the group through to our targeted monthly EBITDA breakeven in 2023.
“I remain passionate about CloudCall and our team, but, given the conflicting sentiment between shareholders that prefer growth versus those that prefer us to push for break-even, I believe a future capital raise from the public markets may be challenging. In addition to this, the quantum of any fundraise will not go far to redress this imbalance between us and certain of our competition.
“Against this background and after careful consideration, as noted in the announcement of the offer by Xplorer Capital, the CloudCall board have determined that the offer by Xplorer Capital is in the best interests of CloudCall shareholders and staff.”
