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LoopUp Group PLC shares plummeted on Monday, after it announced its intention to relist as a private company and launch a fundraise. The stock fell 66% to 0.71 pence on Monday morning in London. The London-headquartered cloud platform for hybrid communications also released an ‘in-line’ trading update. LoopUp expects around £21.2 million in revenue for the year 2023, up from £16.5 million in 2022 and not including the recently exited Hybridium business. LoopUp in particular noted that revenue for its Multinational Cloud Telephony business has more than doubled annually to £2.8 million from £1.2 million. Its annual recurring revenue run-rate likewise more than doubled, to approximately £2.7 million at December 31 from around £1.6 million one year prior. LoopUp also reported a ‘strong pipeline of future sales opportunities’, worth around £100 million in annual contract value. ‘Unlike many Remote Meetings companies, LoopUp successfully navigated the pandemic, and having pivoted the business to focus on Multinational Cloud Telephony, we’re seeing strong traction in this high growth area,’ commented Co-Chief Executive Officers Steve Flavell and Michael Hughes. ‘The priority for us now is to ensure we have the right funding to continue this growth and deliver on our potential.’ To this end, LoopUp also on Monday announced the proposed cancellation of its shares from trading on AIM, before re-registering as a private limited company. LoopUp explained that it needs to raise £9 million, to service its outstanding debt of about £6.0 million with the Bank of Ireland and to ‘capitalise on the opportunity for [our] Multinational Cloud Telephony business’. Having ‘extensively reviewed and evaluated the benefits and drawbacks’ of maintaining its current listing, LoopUp said it does not believe that the necessary £9 million fundraise would be possible through public markets. Indeed, LoopUp said it has already received indications of intent to invest £6.2 million aggregate from four private investors, but only if LoopUp is itself a private company. Flavell and Hughes commented: ‘At this stage in our growth journey, taking the business private will provide us with the flexibility to invest in our future growth, underpinned by a significant near-term cash injection that certain private investors stand ready to make and a medium-term pathway to venture and private equity sponsorship.’ Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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