GeoOp founder sells remaining shares as acquisition goes ahead

GeoOp [NZX: GEO] founder Nicholas Bartlett has sold the remainder of his shares in the workforce software company, cashing in more than $200,000, as GeoOp merges with an Australian firm.

In an announcement to the NZX, Auckland-based GeoOp says it has agreed to buy back 714,286 shares at 28c ($200,000) from Silvia Trustees, which is associated with Mr Bartlett. GeoOp says this satisfies a condition for its merger with Australian mobile sales app developer InterfaceIT for $9 million.

Shareholders approved the merger at a special meeting in Auckland last month, while media were refused entry.

Mr Bartlett has sold the remainder of his shares to professional investors, according to GeoOp.

He founded the company in 2009 and left four years later, before its NZX debut in October, 2013.

He has been gradually selling down his shares since January, 2014, at which time he owned 10.5% of the company.

Mr Bartlett is now based in London and employed by accounting software company Receipt Bank, according to his LinkedIn profile.

GeoOp confirmed InterfaceIT’s Roger Sharp has been appointed as non-executive chairman, former chairman Mark Weldon has stepped down to take up a non-executive director role, and GeoOp chief executive Anna Cicognani has been appointed as executive director.

Last week, former GeoOp chief executive Leanne Graham resigned as non-executive director.

In April, independent Simmons Corporate Finance said the pros of the merger with InterfaceIT “significantly outweigh” the cons.

The $9 million acquisition came in the form of 15,000,000 new shares being issued at 40c each (meaning InterfaceIT's stake in GeoOp is roughly 30%) and 3,000,000 convertible notes at $1 each.

The company says it will assess “capital initiatives” once the merger’s initial integration, cost synergies and product strategy milestones have been achieved.

GeoOp says the merger will enable the company to “initiate a reset, enabling renewed and accelerated focus on product, customers, cashflows and capital, increasing scale and geographic reach.”

It says it is going through substantial changes from its operating model to product strategy, technology and unit economics.

“Positioning the company for profitable growth in new geographies and target markets remains the focus of the management team,” GeoOp says.

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