IPO to Fund iSentia's Asia Pac Expansion

In Australia, media intelligence group iSentia - formerly known as Media Monitors - is headed for a June IPO which it hopes will raise $AUD 283.5m. Funds will help consolidate market positions and continue growth in Australia and New Zealand, and in South East and East Asia.

The company, which filed its prospectus with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) this week, says it will offer 139m shares valued at $AUD 2.04 each to new institutional and retail shareholders. Quadrant Private Equity, until now majority shareholders, will retain 50 million shares (25% of the company) and will receive $150m in cash.

Media Monitors was rebranded as Sentia in February 2012 and added the initial 'i' shortly after. The firm monitors and interprets data from mainstream media organizations, online news sources and user-generated content including that on Facebook and Twitter, feedback relevant analysis and insights back to clients.

iSentia CEO John Croll (pictured) said of the offering: 'We are excited about the IPO and look forward to welcoming our new shareholders. We are seeing strong growth in our business led by our proprietary SaaS platforms, including our market-leading Mediaportal platform, and our portfolio of leading social media monitoring and analysis software and services.' According to www.mumbrella.com.au , Croll should receive more than 8m shares and $AUD 8.8m in cash, while CFO Nimesh Shah nets $AUD 1.7m and 800,000 shares following the IPO.

Group Chairman Doug Flynn comments: 'A listing on the ASX will help us to continue our strong momentum and consolidate our leading positions in ANZ and a number of key Asian markets including the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam and our growing presence in Greater China.'

iSentia's group of agencies includes print, broadcast and Internet monitoring specialist China Clipping, online and social media analysis firm Brandtology, media intelligence and quant analysis company MediaBanc, advisory and analysis company 360m, Australasian monitoring firm Slice Media, and social media agency Two Social, acquired last August. Most recently, it has acquired the media monitoring business of news provider Australian Associated Press (AAP) - this deal was approved in February by the Australian regulator after initial concerns.

Web site: www.isentia.com .