Calculus Capital portfolio company ActiveOps has completed a successful Initial Public Offering on the Alternative Investment Market, generating an impressive 6x return for Calculus EIS investors.
ActiveOps has placed 45 million shares with institutional investors, raising gross proceeds of GBP76 million for selling shareholders, including Calculus Capital. The placing price of 168 pence values the company at GBP120 million. Dealing commenced at 8am this morning.
Calculus invested in ActiveOps in 2014, acquiring approximately 30 per cent of the company’s equity. Revenues have grown significantly in that time, from GBP7m in the year to March 2015, to GBP20 million in the year to March 2020. ActiveOps has built an installed base of approximately 80 customers and over 100,000 individual users across EMEA, North America, APAC and India. Calculus has maintained a seat on the board throughout the last seven years and has supported the company through three acquisitions. Following the listing, Calculus will retain 25 per cent of its original holding, representing a 6 per cent stake in ActiveOps.
ActiveOps is a leader in Management Process Automation, providing a SaaS platform to large enterprises with complex and often global back-offices. The company’s software and embedded back-office operations management methodology enables enterprises to adopt a data-driven, scientific approach to organising work and managing capacity. The company has built an extensive base of long-standing, blue-chip enterprise customers, predominantly in the banking, insurance and business process outsourcing sectors, including Nationwide, TD Bank, Anthem, Inc and DXC Technology.
Richard Moore, Co-Head of Investments at Calculus Capital, says: “We are delighted to deliver this result to our investors. The company and its management have performed exceptionally well during our investment period, winning multiple new customers, enhancing the technology platform and expanding into new territories. ActiveOps is now a leader in its field and is incredibly well-positioned in a large and attractive global market. The company’s solutions provide visibility and control over the modern blended workforce, including onsite and remote workers, software robots and BPO vendors. This allows for efficient and effective management of multiple teams across many sites in parallel with a dispersed workforce. The IPO is an important milestone that will enhance the company’s profile and reputation. We are delighted ActiveOps is now a public company and remain a supportive investor as the company embarks on its next stage of growth.”
Richard Jeffery, CEO of ActiveOps, says: “The investment from Calculus in 2014 was a key step in enabling ActiveOps to become the international business that it is today. Their funding and Calculus’s participation on the ActiveOps board has been central to our success, growing to having a client base of approximately 80 blue-chip organisations in more than 40 countries around the world, delivering annual revenues last year of GBP20 million. I am delighted that the positive response of the wider investment community at IPO means Calculus have seen an excellent return on that initial investment, but even more pleased that they have retained a stake in ActiveOps and will continue with us on this journey.”
