(Alliance News) - Shares in Allied Minds PLC spiked Tuesday after proposing a USD66 million sale of its stake in radio frequency data analytics firm HawkEye 360, eyeing a potential USD33 million return to shareholders.
Shares in Allied Minds were 1.5% higher at 60.89 pence in London on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP147.2 million, having initially jumped to 66.71p.
Allied Minds will sell the HawkEye stake for USD65.5 million in cash to privately-owned media firm Advance. Having launched HawkEye in 2015, the sale price represents a 5.6 times return on invested capital.
Allied Minds intends to return USD32.8 million of gross proceeds from the sale to shareholders. The remainder of the cash, however, will be used to fund potential "follow-on" investment opportunities.
"This is a major development," Allied Minds co-chief executive officers Joe Pignato and Mike Turner said. "The sale provides an excellent return on invested capital, enables us to make a significant return of cash to shareholders, and strengthens our ability to continue to fund and support our existing technology portfolio.
"Our focus now is on realising value from the rest of our portfolio through continued operational and financial support, as well as selective, well-timed exits to maximise returns to shareholders", Pignato and Turner added.
By Ahren Lester; ahrenlester@alliancenews.com
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