In a recent regulatory filing, Toronto-based employee wellness software provider LifeSpeak outlined plans to raise up to $450 million CAD, as it looks to fuel its acquisition-focused growth strategy.
LifeSpeak’s short-form base shelf prospectus, dated December 21, comes less than six months after the firm made its Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) debut, and follows a trio of post-initial public offering (IPO) acquisitions made by the healthtech company in recent months.
LifeSpeak previously allocated the majority of its TSX IPO proceeds towards strategic acquisitions.
The deal could be made through new issues or secondary offerings. New issues serve as a means for public companies to raise funding and can be used to support business strategies like acquisition efforts, while secondary offerings allow existing investors to sell shares. Although LifeSpeak has not yet specified what it may raise this capital for, the acquisition-focused company previously allocated the majority of its IPO proceeds towards strategic acquisitions.
LifeSpeak indicated that it could raise this capital through the sale of common shares, preferred shares, debt securities, warrants, subscription receipts, and units in one or more transactions over the next two years.
Founded in 2004, LifeSpeak sells its digital mental health and well-being education software to organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies, insurance providers, and other healthtech firms.
The company saw significant growth during COVID-19. In an interview with BetaKit last year, LifeSpeak founder and CEO Michael Held said that the trends and events that have propelled LifeSpeak “started years before the pandemic,” but argued that COVID-19 has permanently shifted how the C-Suite has prioritized mental health, benefitting LifeSpeak’s business.
Setting its sights on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), LifeSpeak filed to go public in June 2021. The company made its TSX debut in July 2021 amid what was a record year for new Canadian tech issues, which have seen mixed results.
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LifeSpeak raised $90 million CAD as part of its $125 million IPO, selling 12.5 million common shares at a price of $10 per share. The IPO also included a $35 million secondary offering that saw Held and Round13 Capital sell shares.
The company is currently trading on the TSX at $6.25 per share, below its initial $10 issue price. Fellow 2021 Canadian tech TSX debutantes Q4 Inc. and E Automotive also continue to trade below their initial issue price, while others, like Québec City-based Coveo, have seen a stronger response from investors and trade above their IPO target.
LifeSpeak raised $90 million CAD through the sale of 12.5 million common shares at a price of $10 per share, as part of its $125 million IPO, which also included a $35 million secondary offering that saw Held and Round13 Capital sell shares.
Since then, LifeSpeak has acquired a trio of other healthtech and wellness software companies in online wellness company Lift, substance use disorder solution ALAViDA, and caregiver support platform Torchlight.
In Q3 2021, LifeSpeak’s latest earnings report and first full quarter as a public company, the firm recorded revenue of $5.9 million CAD, an increase of 135 percent compared to the same period the previous year, and generated a net loss of $20.1 million, a year-over-year decrease of $19.9 million that the company attributed to costs incurred in relation to its IPO.
Feature image courtesy LifeSpeak.
