(Alliance News) - Audioboom Group PLC on Monday said 2021 revenue will be "significantly in excess" of management's expectations at the time of its first-half results, but lost its potential buyer which questioned corporate governance at the podcast producer.
All Active Asset Capital Ltd said it has withdrawn its possible takeover offer for Audioboom after finding the company's response to the offer "difficult to understand". The offer was worth 200 pence plus 12.5 new All Active shares, for each Audioboom share.
All Active questioned the "key corporate governance" at Audioboom as it felt management ignored the wishes of shareholders. Holders of 51% of shares had indicated they would accept a takeover.
All Active has now withdrawn its offer ​​to prevent generating a false market in Audioboom shares, but added that it will consider an Audioboom bid in the future.
Audiboom said on Friday it had not received a firm offer from All Active after extending the offer deadline to Monday, and that it was not aware of All Active making progress on "substantial initiatives" promised at a meeting between the two in August.
Shares in Audioboom were down 6.4% at 805.00p in London on Monday afternoon.
Separately, Audioboom noted an "outstanding performance" in August and record success across all of the company's metrics, with August revenue more than doubling to USD7.0 million in 2021 from USD2.4 million in 2020.
Jersey-based Audioboom's global monthly downloads increased 29% year-on-year in August, hitting a record 98.9 million downloads, and brand advertiser count increased by 45%.
It added that average global revenue per 1,000 downloads more than doubled to USD63.83 from USD29.04.
In half-year results released on July 20, Audioboom reported a 20% surge in interim revenue to USD11.8 million from USD9.8 million and a narrowed pretax loss to USD2.0 million from USD2.8 million, as the US podcast market picked up pace.
The strong performance since then was driven by increased demand and strong pricing during major events, such as Premier League football and the F1 season, and Audioboom's proprietary AdRip tool, which has been monetised through sustained growth in ad-tech related revenue. It launched AdRip in mid-July to place new advertisements into old podcasts.
"Audioboom's excellent performance has continued through 2021 as we execute our content-focused expansion plan. I am pleased that we continue to generate strong demand for our premium sales network," said Chief Executive Stuart Last.
By Josie O'Brien; josieobrien@alliancenews.com
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