|
essensys PLC on Friday said it was discussing a potential takeover by Mark Furness, its non-executive director and founder, after he made a non-binding cash bid for the company. The London-based software and cloud service provider said the bid was for 20 pence per share, roughly 29% ahead of its 15.50p closing price on Thursday. essensys shares were down 3.1% at 15.02p on Friday morning in London, having tumbled 50% in the past year. Independent directors are now in ‘preliminary discussions’ with Furness, who has until December 26 to say whether or not he intends to make a firm offer. Any possible offer would be through an incorporated acquisition vehicle, essensys noted, with ‘ no certainty that an offer will be made.’ Also on Friday, the company shared an update on the first quarter of financial 2026, describing quarterly revenue as ‘broadly in line’ with management’s forecast but warning of annual performance ‘materially below’ expectations. Sales for the three months to the end of October totalled £4.1 million, ‘primarily driven by essensys Platform’, the firm said. Its other core segment, elumo, is a flexible workspace booking system. essensys is yet to release annual results for the year that ended July 31, but in the six months that ended January 31, sales amounted to £10.4 million, down 11% from £11.4 million a year earlier. Pretax loss for the first half of financial 2025 narrowed to £1.8 million from £2.8 million on-year. The company warned of a hit to financial 2026 sales based on ‘elongated sales cycles and slower than anticipated adoption rates’ which it attributed to wider economic volatility. In addition, a key customer, accounting for about £900,000 of annual recurring revenue, is not expected to renew its Platform contract at the end of December. essensys also noted restructuring costs to address Platform and elumo’s needs separately. The company is in talks for a loan to boost its financial position and support ‘key growth opportunities.’ It stressed that it is currently debt free, with the restructure aimed to bring ‘significant annualised cost savings’, and overall customer churn on track with guidance, which factored in the expected customer loss. Interest in elumo ‘remains strong’, the company said, and it expects ‘good adoption over the medium term.’ ‘essensys continues to see a clear ’flight to quality’ in the flexible workspace market, as occupiers favour premium, well-specified spaces positions the company well for evolving market preferences,’ it added. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
