Ottawa-based workflow and data collection platform TrueContext has entered an agreement that will see it acquired and taken private by Boston-based investment firm Battery Ventures.
TrueContext shareholders receive $1.07 per share following the transaction, valuing the company’s total equity at approximately $150 million on a fully diluted basis. The purchase price reflects an almost 40 percent premium on the company’s $0.77 TSXV closing price on March 8.
The firm says it counts Shell, Chevron, and DHL among its over 100,000 customers.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.
TrueContext co-CEO and founder Alvaro Pombo said in a statement that he is excited to work with Battery to accelerate the growth of TrueContext in the field intelligence space.
“The transaction is a result of a thorough strategic review process conducted by a special committee of the board of TrueContext with its financial advisors, with a view to maximizing value for shareholders,” special committee chair Catherine Sigmar said in a statement.
TrueContext was founded in 2001 as ProntoForms and provides a no-code workflow platform for field services such as repairs and maintenance. The platform allows clients to dispatch jobs to workers with attached data and collection tools such as notes, pictures, and geolocating. The platform also supports various integrations such as ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Dropbox.
The firm says over 100,000 customers have used its platform for asset inspection, compliance, installation, repair, maintenance, and health and safety. Among those customers, according to the startup, are Shell, Chevron, and DHL.
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TrueContext rebranded from ProntoForms in November, changing its TSXV ticker from PFM to TCXT in turn, as part of a larger rebranding initiative to better align the company identity with its product. The company has been publicly traded since 2007 with its peak share value reaching $1.40 in January 2021. The company has since been valued as low as $0.56 per share in the past year.
TrueContext is the latest to join a growing list of Canadian tech companies that have opted to go private in the last year. Earlier this week, Montréal-based e-commerce solutions company MDF Commerce announced it was going private after entering a definitive agreement that will see it acquired by New York-based investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
In February, Q4 Inc. was delisted from the TSX after closing a $257-million CAD buyout agreement with Sumeru Equity Partners, while BBTV Holdings and Dialogue Health Technologies went through similar transactions in 2023. Many other companies have looked for buyers to take them private, including Farmer’s Edge, mCloud, and Mednow.
Feature image courtest Emmanuel Ikwuegbu via Unsplash.
