It also said it expected to add an ACV of between $12.8 million and $17.4 in the first half of the 2023 financial year. It ended the 2022 financial year with an ACV of $167.6 million. The company favours this metric because it takes on a full year’s payment upfront when it signs a new deal.
For the full year, the business has forecast an ACV of between $195 million and $208 million, representing a second-half skew and a growth rate between 16.3 per cent and 24.1 per cent.
Cash preservation
Because of the challenging economic environment, Nearmap said it intended to further prioritise cash preservation during this financial year, primarily through deferring planned hiring intentions.
It also provided an update on its court case with rival Eagle View Technologies. A few days ago, Nearmap revealed, Eagle View had filed a motion to add three patent infringement allegations against the business.
Nearmap is due to file a motion opposing Eagle View’s action before November 23, and continues to assert that its competitor’s allegations are “fundamentally without merit”.
Investors unhappy about the Nearmap board recommending Thoma Bravo’s bid highlight the uniqueness of its technology (which offers everything from two-dimensional photo maps to oblique, panoramic, three-dimensional images that are regularly updated, and provide automatically generated insights), the potential for future UK and European expansion and its rapidly growing US business as reasons for why the business should be valued more highly.
The business has no substantial shareholders on the register.
Investors to publicly voice their opposition to the bid include Sterling Equity and Lakehouse Capital, which in its most recent small companies fund monthly letter told investors the Nearmap board should have brought forward its full-year results announcement before recommending Thoma Bravo’s bid.
“We remain of the view that the current $2.10 takeover offer remains well below fair value for the company, and note it is below the midpoint valuation in the independent expert’s report,” the fund wrote.
“We are of the view that prior to accepting Thoma Bravo’s bid price, and agreeing to break fees, the Nearmap board ought to have released the company’s strong annual results to the market, especially the expectation that the company will reach cash flow breakeven by the end of the current financial year.”
For the deal not to go through, investors representing more than 25 per cent of those voting would need to oppose the offer.