Acquisition, Recovery and Share Issue for Tobii

Eyetracking hardware and solutions firm Tobii has announced third quarter organic revenue growth of 26%, the acquisition of Belgian company Acapela Group, and the issue of SEK 250m ($US29.1m) worth of shares to help fund this and the earlier acquisition of Phasya.

In the quarter ended September 30th the Swedish-owned group achieved revenue of SEK 390m ($US 45.4m), with gross margin of 71% (70%). The share issue, to be conducted via a so-called 'accelerated bookbuilding' procedure, will also be used to strengthen the balance sheet in both Tobii and its Dynavox division (which is headed for a separate listing), and to 'create headroom' for further acquisitions and investments.

Phasya provides software for monitoring physiological and cognitive states such as drowsiness, cognitive load and distraction, which influence human behaviour, and its acquisition was announced on August 5th this year. Today Tobii said it will also (via Dynavox) spend EUR 9.8m in cash to buy its long-time partner firm Acapela Group Babel Technologies SA, a provider of digital voices and AI-powered speech synthesis software with around 50 employees and 2020 turnover of c.EUR 6m. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. Fredrik Ruben, CEO of Tobii Dynavox, says: 'We continue in our quest to give all people with communication impairments a voice and the opportunity to be who they want to be', adding that the merger will 'create solutions that enable our users to create their own identity and be able to express themselves clearly, personally and effectively in the way they want'. Rémy Cadic, CEO of Acapela Group, comments: 'We are proud of what we have accomplished as a company and are very much looking forward to taking another exciting step in our journey, so that together with Tobii Dynavox we can accelerate our pace of product development and expansion'.

Third quarter results showed a recovery from Covid economy setbacks: group net profit for the period amounted to SEK -8m (a big improvement on -49m last year); Tobii Dynavox revenue increased by 27% organically; and the revenue for the residual Tobii remainco rose 26% organically, passing Q3 2019 levels. CEO Henrik Eskilsson (pictured) comments: 'We delivered a solid quarter with organic growth of 26%, despite continued pandemic-related headwinds and logistics disruptions. Following six quarters of challenges to Covid, we are seeing a steadily improving business climate, and I dare to say that we have turned the page and returned to growth mode in both Tobii remainco and Tobii Dynavox. The spin-off and intended listing of Tobii Dynavox around year-end is progressing according to plan. All things considered, both companies are entering this new chapter with strong momentum'.

Tobii is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and is online at www.tobii.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.