Shares in Pacific Edge spiked sharply higher after the company said its "Cxbladder" cancer diagnostic tests are now covered by United Healthcare, America's biggest healthcare insurer.
The NZX-listed cancer diagnostics company said Cxbladder is now being covered as a "medically necessary bladder tumour marker test", under United Healthcare's Molecular Pathology/Molecular Diagnostics/Genetic Testing (Medicare Advantage) - Medical Policy.
The stock last traded at $1.30, up 31c or 31.3 per cent on Thursday's close.
United Healthcare has over 50 million members with more than 5.7 million Medicare Advantage members.
In 2019, United Health Group had a 14.1 per cent share of the US health insurance market, with direct premiums written amounting to about US$107 billion.
The organisation partners with 6500 hospitals and care facilities nationwide, and more than 1.3 million physicians and other providers.
Including the positive coverage decision issued by the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2020, more than 110 million Americans now have coverage of Cxbladder non-invasive, highly accurate tests for the detection and management of urothelial and bladder cancer, Pacific Edge said.
Chief executive David Darling said gaining coverage with the insurer was a significant achievement for Pacific Edge.
"This positive coverage decision reflects the validation that comes from independent published clinical evidence, inclusion in guidelines and coverage with other providers such as the CMS. It adds further validation of Cxbladder and a point of inflexion for other healthcare insurers."
PEDUSA, Pacific Edge's US business, has been expanding its US sales team to deliver on the growth opportunities available to Cxbladder.
These specialist salespeople will now be working closely with urologists associated with United Healthcare to encourage and support them in their use of our Cxbladder products, the company said.
Pacific Edge was one of the market's strongest performers in 2020 - with its share price climbing by 780 per cent.
By: Jamie Gray Business reporter, NZ Herald
If fully leveraged, digital technologies could add $46.6 billion to New Zealand’s economy by 2030. This could have a significant material impact on society as it is equivalent to 14% of New Zealand’s GDP today, or the combined GDP supported by Canterbury and Hawke’s Bay. Of this value, NZ$17.1 billion could come from technologies that help mitigate the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report talks to eight transformative technologies and the strong economic potential they bring to New Zealand industries including, but not limited to, Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can be used to drive data-based public health interventions, Mobile Internet to help digitise retail distribution channels, and the Internet of Things (IoT) for use in supply chain tracking.
Caroline Rainsford, New Zealand Country Director of Google, says, “Overall New Zealand has weathered the storm of the COVID-19 crisis well, and we are starting to see the economy rebound on the back of policies that have protected businesses and kept unemployment relatively low. However, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the over-reliance of our economy on low-productivity, low-value exports.
“As we rebuild for the post-pandemic future, digital transformation has become an imperative, as it lifts prosperity, and prosperity lifts well-being. We need to unlock this potential in order to drive a significant difference by 2030.”
In order to fully leverage the opportunities presented by digital transformation, the report has identified three main pillars of action New Zealand could take including:
Google’s Contribution Rainsford says, while there is huge potential for New Zealand, a lot of positive work has already been done in this area within the last year. She says, “Through this report we’ve also been able to demonstrate some of the ways that Google’s tools and services are already benefiting New Zealand’s digital economy. We’re humbled that Kiwi businesses and wider society derive over NZD$6 billion in annual benefits, through increased revenues and millions of connections online.”
The report also shares stories of local businesses that have successfully adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 by proactively embracing the opportunities provided by digital adoption. Kiwi-founded eco-friendly beauty company Ethique was borne out of a desire to do things differently. With ambition to create better products for the bathroom and to save plastic from landfill, online advertising enabled them to easily reach a global audience - validating its global potential.
Key findings:
Kia ora,
As always, I hope you and your whānau are well as we head into April. A lot has happened since my last newsletter: the first Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOM1) and Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meetings (FCBDM) have now concluded. Over 3,300 officials registered to attend these meetings from around the APEC region – a fantastic level of engagement.
We’re now looking forward to the second Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM2) and Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting in May and June. The MRT meeting in particular is usually a space for important statements, like 2020’s statement to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19, which can tangibly show APEC’s progress for the year.
The first Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) SOM1 brought together thousands of government officials from each of the 21 APEC economies, along with their support teams in March.
Talks focused on how to fast-track the regional response to COVID-19, in a bid to boost the recovery process. There was also intensive discussion about how APEC will carry forward commitments leaders made in 2020 and the development of a 20-year implementation plan, taking into consideration the challenges and risks exposed by the pandemic.
SOM Chair, Vangelis Vitalis said “as a region, we need to work together to ensure APEC effectively responds, not just to the immediate crisis, but also to the longer-term need to build a sustainable and resilient regional economy that benefits everyone.”
Watch Vangelis, APEC Secretariat Executive Director Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria and reporter Jehan Casinader discuss the work of SOM1 here.
Policy Dialogue: Valuing Indigenous Economies This meeting was the first of its kind in APEC, bringing together Indigenous voices from Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand and Peru.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, described the dialogue as “pioneering work”, asking participants to “nurture the seed so that it may grow and flourish as we continue to work together on Indigenous issues. This work is important in improving the lives and well-being of all Indigenous Peoples across the Asia-Pacific region”.
One of the areas discussed at the dialogue, was the importance of data to understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Indigenous businesses and communities. This data could inform policy, and support the delivery of business support, building resilience for future challenges.
Measuring Indigenous economies is critical to illustrating the economic contribution of these businesses and communities to national economies to ensure the development of targeted and tailored policy responses.
Read more about the Dialogue here.
Finance and Central Bank Deputies Meeting (FCBDM) APEC’s Finance and central bank deputies came together on March 17 & 18 to discuss the groundwork for sustainable fiscal management to boost recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. They also debated the costs and benefits of stimulus measures that finance ministries and central banks have put in place around the Asia-Pacific.
Dr Caralee McLiesh, Secretary and Chief Executive of the Treasury and Chair of APEC’s Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting said: “As member economies have worked to respond to the economic, social and health impacts of the pandemic, finance ministries around the region have been at the heart of government decision-making.”
The discussion from the FCBDM will continue towards the APEC Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting in June and their recommendations will be provided to APEC Finance Ministers in October this year.
Read more about the FCBDM here.
Looking ahead, we have a month of ad-hoc meetings in the lead up to SOM2 and the Ministers’ Responsible for Trade meeting. I look forward to updating you next month on our further progress.
If you’d like to read more about APEC 2021, here are three recent pieces:
A reminder of some key work coming up this year:
Ngā mihi nui,
Andrea Smith Deputy Secretary, APEC New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Following the launch of the business on 1 February, WayBeyond is announcing the first five global partnerships as part of a push to create AgTech collaborations and accelerate new offerings to customers.
“These five partners are just the beginning. We have another 30 we are in discussions with, allowing us to have a presence in every corner of the planet,” says Head of Global Channels Lotte Bayly.
“We are delighted with the positive reception we’ve had in relation to our offerings and how we will be able to present partners with leading edge innovations they can then roll out to their customers.”
The five partners all cover a variety of global regions and include:
• Cultivatd (headquartered in Canada) • Novefa (headquartered in Denmark) • Better Grow Hydro (headquartered in U.S.) • UpGrown Farming (headquartered in Singapore) • Autogrow (headquartered in NZ).
Another two partners to be confirmed in the next few weeks.
“The expertise at WayBeyond is second to none and they have developed tools that can help any indoor farmer track and manage their critical data in an effective way," says Eric Bergeron, co-founder of Cultivatd, an indoor farm technology broker.
One of the first WayBeyond products the partners will be introducing to their customer base is the Folium Network Sensor. The solution comes with a dedicated wrap-around partner program including a comprehensive sales toolbox and rewarding incentives.
Lionel Wong, Managing Director for Upgrown Farming notes the technology will play a pivotal role in emerging yet challenging markets in Singapore and Asia.
“Regardless of one's level of farming experience, Folium accelerates the learning curve and empowers decision making in what is a dynamic environment and market," says Mr. Wong.
The partnerships are part of push by WayBeyond to increase the level and connectivity of cloud-based solutions in market and comes after the successful launch of farm management platform FarmRoad and its subsequent products Data Studio, Yield Prediction and Crop Registration.
Source: https://www.waybeyond.io/
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on Thursday, March 25th on the subject of US international tax policy, “How US International Tax Policy Impacts American Workers, Jobs and Investment.” ACA submitted testimony for this hearing highlighting the need for the tax-writing committees to be educated on how tax policy affects international taxpayers - Americans living and working overseas.
ACA believes that tax legislation will be taken up in the 117th Congress and the Senate Finance Committee hearing is a clear indication of this and a signal that more hearings on domestic and international taxation will be held. ACA’s recent meetings with Congressional and Administrative offices, tax writing committees and the US Treasury Department, indicate that there is interest in addressing the problems of international taxpayers. Congressional and Administrative offices are well aware of the problems overseas taxpayers have reported, banking lockout, excessive cost of compliance, double taxation, thanks to ACA’s advocacy work and the work of other organizations and individuals who are raising the alarm.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has not stopped ACA’s advocacy on tax reform and our push for holding hearings on the tax and compliance issues for Americans overseas,” said Marylouise Serrato, ACA Executive Director, “ACA continues to meet virtually with the key offices involved in tax legislation. There is increased awareness and interest in international tax policy. This is a good sign.”
As ACA continues to advocate for the adoption of residence-based taxation (RBT), the organization stresses that the important next step is to hold hearings so that a full airing of the problems of the 5 to 6 million American living overseas are heard by the committees responsible for driving tax legislation. Community participation in the ACA write-in campaign calling for hearings is supporting ACA’s efforts. ACA is also updating its data and research and continues to add to its extensive body of work on the subject of RBT and tax reform.
“ACA has a wealth of knowledge and hard data on the tax and compliance issues of American taxpayers overseas and this information needs to be put on official record with the tax committees. We are confident that this will happen,” said Jonathan Lachowitz, ACA Chairman.
“ACA also pays close attention to what’s happening with corporate tax changes, as these signal Congressional thinking on aspects of the RBT issue, such as, zero-tax income and tax havens”, added Charles Bruce, Chairman, American Citizens Abroad Global Foundation.
Contact: Marylouise.serrato@americansabroad.org +1 202 322 8441
Xero, the global small business platform, today announced that Adams Brown, one of the top 200 largest CPA firms in the United States, has selected Xero as its preferred cloud accounting platform when working with farmers and ranchers.
By joining forces with Xero, Adams Brown clients will have access to the Xero platform so they can better manage and track their farm’s finances. Xero’s partner Figured, a cloud-based farm financial management system, provides farmers and their advisors with real-time production tracking, budgeting and reporting information, offering a solution to help farmers stay on top of profitability and effectively plan for the future.
“For years, farmers have looked for ways to integrate their farm management and accounting functions, and now they can,” said Bill Glazner, CPA, CITP, agriculture industry leader, partner at Adams Brown. “By aligning with Xero and Figured, our clients will have more useful data to assist with decision making. Coupled with our significant depth in the agriculture industry, we are able to help farmers run more modern, technology-driven businesses.”
Xero works with Figured to bring an accounting solution to the agriculture sector. By combining financial data from Xero with production and forecasting data from Figured, Adams Brown can empower clients to know where their farming business stands and make informed decisions to help determine their farm’s future.
“Figured believes that farmers are most successful when working with a strong financial advisor to achieve their business goals,” said Ryan Betka, Figured Senior Vice President - USA. “We are excited to be partnering with industry leader Adams Brown as they launch their new advisory offering powered by Figured and Xero. Farmers are facing as volatile and challenging times as ever. Having the best advisors and technology will help enable them to make profitable decisions with confidence and be a game-changer for the US.”
Xero and Figured can also help model the financial impacts of decisions, such as machinery or land purchases, as well as long-term planning for livestock, dairy and crop production. Furthermore, farmers can automate time-consuming accounting and back-office work, view cash flow and profitability and develop a plan to guide their operations for upcoming production cycles. Data from Xero and Figured can enable Adams Brown to lift the value of service for their clients so they can spend more time advising on ways to achieve farming goals and how to improve their farm’s overall financial performance.
“Xero and Adams Brown are committed to providing farmers rich insights and data to help them achieve their financial goals,” said Tanner Hoffman, General Manager, Industry Verticals, Xero. “The simplicity of Xero paired with Figured, matched with best-in-class accounting service from partners like Adams Brown, means farmers can efficiently get the insights they need and focus their time and energy on the business of farming.”
Source: Insightful Accountant, LLC
U.S. Chamber releases ninth annual International IP Index as intellectual property (IP) takes center stage in combatting the global pandemic WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) released its ninth annual International IP Index, “Recovery Through Ingenuity,” highlighting the extraordinary role of intellectual property (IP) rights in delivering pandemic-ending solutions. The new report evaluates IP rights in 53 global economies — from patent and copyright policies to commercialization of IP assets and ratification of international treaties. In a year of unprecedented challenges, the U.S., Japanese, and European economies remained atop the global IP rankings, while some emerging markets – including the UAE, China, and Mexico – continued making solid progress. The overall global IP environment also improved in 2020, with positive score increases in 32 of the 53 economies measured by the IP Index. This follows a significant increase for many economies over the last 9 years, including India and Brazil. China’s improved score is due in part to new legislation to strengthen its domestic IP framework, as a result of a trade agreement with the United States. These changes, if implemented effectively, should improve China’s domestic IP regime. However, ongoing market access barriers, uneven enforcement, measures requiring forced technology transfer, and serious deficiencies in the rule of law continue to make the business environment in China highly challenging for rightsholders. “Trade remains critically important to global IP standards,” said Neil Bradley, Chief Policy Officer for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Both the U.S.-China 2020 Trade and Economic Agreement and U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement must be fully and faithfully implemented – and built upon – to harness the benefits which effective IP systems provide. Moreover, to achieve the desired effect of stimulating global innovation, countries must implement the spirit as well as the letter of these commitments.” The 2021 Index illustrates that economies with the most effective IP frameworks are more likely to achieve the socio-economic benefits needed to combat COVID-19, including greater access to venture capital, increased private sector investment in research and development, and over 10 times more clinical trial activity. Over the last year, transparent and predictable intellectual property rights have also fostered unprecedented levels of highly successful public-private sector collaborations. “The international IP system gave the innovative scientific community the capacity to respond to the global pandemic,” said David Hirschmann, President and CEO of GIPC. “Countries with the most effective IP ecosystems – as measured by the 2021 Index – become trusted partners in our mission to develop, manufacture, and distribute the solutions needed to defeat COVID-19 in record time. Now is the time to build greater international consensus and capacity on IP, to enable all countries and the next generation to build a sustained economic recovery through ingenuity,” Hirschmann said. IP continues to be a massive economic driver for jobs and investment. In the United States alone, IP supports over $6 trillion in GDP and more than 45 million jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Read the executive summary here. To view the full report, visit uschamber.com/ipindex.
On March 3rd innovative New Zealand company Good Feeding Ltd launched its Go Well infant feeding subscription programme into the lucrative US market with what Trailblazer called "the most significant global baby industry disruption ever seen". Plus they're looking for investors.
Good Feeding ’s 24-week Go Well programme delivers nutrient-dense, chilled infant food and a step-by-step feeding guide, plus expert advice, to parents introducing babies to solid foods. The programme is designed to form healthy eating habits by exposing infants to different tastes and textures and limiting natural sugars.
“Go Well is a multi-pronged approach to infant nutrition. Its value proposition is more than just food, its empowerment. We use an innovative suite of technology and exclusive cooking processes to create the world ’s best baby food – with superior colour, taste and texture to anything else on the market. We couple that with a science-backed step-by-step feeding programme packed with all the advice and guidance overwhelmed and under-informed new parents are crying out for,” says Good Feeding Co-Founder and CEO Phil McGrath.
The result is a unique proposition within the $7.6 billion US baby food market. Conservative figures from Good Feeding ’s State-side research show that 28 percent of parents surveyed intend to purchase Go Well when it is available.
With over 1000 parents visiting its site daily for advice and hundreds that signed up to be part of its pilot launch, Good Feeding currently projects it will capture a 2 percent market share in the States, growing their revenue from a projected NZ$6.3 million this year to NZ$85 million in five years, delivering projected EBITDA of approximately $17m by 2026.
Good Feeding was founded in 2018 after Phil and Frances McGrath saw a gap in the market and the opportunity to create positive change and address the rapidly rising rates of child obesity, early onset diabetes and other life-long health complaints by supporting parents to set up healthy eating habits right from the beginning.
“The baby food market is dominated by high-sugar, nutrient-poor baby food that sets children up to crave the wrong foods and overeat. Go Well counters that via education and advice for parents and flavour training and better food for infants,” says McGrath.
McGrath has a successful background in food innovation. He co-founded the popular Rafferty ’s Garden Baby Food brand that was immediately ranged in every Australian Coles and Woolworths supermarket store, rapidly taking over a 1/3 of the Australian market and was the Food Entrepreneur in Residence at Massey University ’s world-class research, teaching and business development facility, Riddet Innovation.
He was instrumental in commercialising the exclusive thermal processing technology suite used by Go Well to rapidly but gently cook vegetables, preserving nutrients, colour and flavour while killing dangerous bacteria.
Co-founder Frances McGrath is Director of Product Design at Good Feeding. She has a background in applied science and sports research and has spent years researching paediatric nutrition and food acceptance.
She says the goal is to establish healthy habits from the very first taste via Go Well ’s guided Flavour Training programme that teaches parents the right way to introduce foods. She says Go Well is designed to foster healthy confident eaters who have a positive relationship with food to take them into adulthood, potentially minimising the risks of obesity, diabetes and other lifestyle related conditions.
Investors who are looking to invest $1-5m-plus wanting to explore this opportunity can find more information at www.GoodFeeding.com.
Iconic New Zealand winery, Villa Maria Estate has announced Winebow Imports as its new exclusive import representative in the United States.
Villa Maria says it’s vision is to be one of the world’s great wine companies and the partnership with Winebow Imports further supports the company’s global growth strategy.
“Following a rigorous selection process, we are thrilled to partner with the Winebow Imports team,” says Matthew Deller MW, Villa Maria’s chief global sales and marketing officer. “Their knowledge, enthusiasm, and professionalism are unparalleled, making them perfectly positioned to realise Villa Maria’s full potential in the US.”
Winebow is a recognised leader in the US wine industry and has extensive experience working with wine brands that are dedicated to unique regions.
“We are honoured to partner with Villa Maria Estate. Their well-documented achievements and category leadership have earned them an outstanding reputation as pioneers in New Zealand wine,” said Ian Downey, executive vice president of Winebow Imports.
“Villa Maria’s guiding principles are always pointing toward positive change. Their longstanding commitment to the relationship between responsible stewardship, community, and quality, resonates strongly in today’s market. We look forward to growing this renowned brand.”
Villa Maria is the number one NZ brand in the UK, New Zealand’s largest market by volume. Despite that success, the company has historically under-indexed in the US market, this country’s largest market by value. The shift to Winebow Imports is part of the Villa Maria’s overall strategy to reach its potential in the United States.
Winebow Imports will relaunch Villa Maria throughout the US this month with a coordinated sales and marketing program to generate excitement and build awareness throughout the country. This will be closely followed by the launch of Villa Maria EarthGarden, a 100 percent Biogro-certified organic range.
Source: https://exportertoday.co.nz/
To Advance Environmental Resilience by “Deepening” Infrastructure Digital Twins!
EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bentley Systems, Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSY), the infrastructure engineering software company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with investors led by Accel-KKR to acquire Seequent—a leader in software for geological and geophysical modeling, geotechnical stability, and cloud services for geodata management, visibility, and collaboration—for $900 million in cash, subject to adjustment, plus 3,141,361 BSY Class B shares. The acquisition of Seequent is expected to initially add approximately 10% to each of Bentley Systems’ key financial metrics (ARR, annual revenue, and EBITDA) and is expected to be measurably accretive to Bentley’s organic growth rate. Most significantly, the combination will deepen the potential of infrastructure digital twins to help understand and mitigate environmental risks, advancing resilience and sustainability.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including New Zealand Overseas Investment Act consent as well as clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Upon closing, Seequent will operate as a stand-alone Bentley subsidiary, with Seequent’s current Chief Operating Officer Graham Grant, succeeding its retiring CEO Shaun Maloney, reporting to Bentley’s Chief Product Officer Nicholas Cumins.
Seequent, founded and headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, has more than 430 colleagues in 16 office locations, serving geologists, hydrogeologists, geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and civil engineers in over 100 countries, and the world’s top mining companies. Its established presence in mineral-intensive geographies such as South America and southern Africa is expected to accelerate Bentley’s overall opportunities in these regions with significant infrastructure requirements. In turn, Bentley’s established presence in China, and its mainstay reach across civil engineering sectors, is expected to accelerate Seequent’s expansion in new markets.
Subsurface conditions comprise the “infrastructure of our infrastructure” and literally underlie the earth’s major environmental risks. Bentley’s current offerings enable digital twins to incorporate what’s constructed “near surface,” including foundations, drainage facilities, buried utilities, tunnels, and subsea structures. The addition of Seequent will now make it possible for infrastructure digital twins to reach full subsurface depths, augmenting environmental resilience against flood, seismic, climate, and water security threats.
Seequent first applied implicit modeling technology to geological science more than 15 years ago, using mathematical tools to derive and visualize 3D geological models from measured data and user interpretation. This software advancement caused a “leapfrogging” paradigm shift in the understanding of the earth’s subsurface and has been increasingly adopted by geoscientists and researchers around the world to uncover and visualize valuable insights about environmental conditions and challenges.
Seequent’s products include Leapfrog, its leading product for 3D geological modeling and visualization, Geosoft for 3D earth modeling and geoscience data management, and GeoStudio for geotechnical slope stability and deformation modeling. Bentley’s complementary geotechnical engineering software portfolio, including PLAXIS, gINT, and OpenGround, will be integrated in due course to support open digital workflows from borehole and drillhole data to geological models and geotechnical analysis applications.
The mining industry, with its economic sensitivity and environmental responsibilities, was the first and fastest to adopt 3D earth modeling, superseding traditional 2D processes to speed and improve decision cycles. A mine is at once a never-ending and continuously changing infrastructure construction project, and a valuable and environmentally critical infrastructure asset. Seequent recognized the potential, for ALL major infrastructure engineering projects and assets, to likewise “leapfrog” traditional 2D subsurface modeling and simulation processes. Leapfrog’s usage, often in conjunction with Bentley’s software offerings, has been growing consistently in civil infrastructure sectors.
The integration of Bentley’s and Seequent’s solutions, for deeper infrastructure digital twins, can contribute a multiplied “ESG handprint” to improve the world’s environment while improving the world’s economies. While Seequent’s products aren’t appreciably used in oil and gas exploration or production—which is served by its own dedicated industry of specialized geophysical software—imperatives for energy transition present new opportunities, even beyond the expansion of mining to produce the materials needed for widespread electrification. Seequent is a leader in 3D modeling for geothermal energy sources, and its software and cloud services provide the important geosciences context for water resources simulations and environmental engineering.
Bentley’s CEO Greg Bentley said, “We can be very confident about Seequent’s contribution to our shared future not only because of our product synergies, but because we recognize in Seequent’s trajectory an echo of the playbook that made Bentley Systems successful—except they have grown faster! They have made farsighted decisions to benefit the future at every stage: identifying and then laser-focusing on the 3D “vertical” opportunity in earth modeling, institutionalizing a subscription commercial model from the outset, directly populating the appropriate global markets, acquiring and consolidating the best software for adjacent disciplines, and bringing it all together with cloud services, ready for digital twins advancement together. I can think of no greater compliment than our determination to leave intact Seequent, as a Bentley Company, entrusting its management with greater responsibilities to continue their dynamic momentum. I congratulate retiring CEO Shaun Maloney on the quality of the business and the team he has developed, and we will warmly welcome his established successor Graham Grant, and all Seequent colleagues, to our shared values and endeavors in advancing infrastructure.”
Tom Barnds, co-managing partner at Accel-KKR and Seequent board member, said, “We had been looking forward to Seequent’s IPO this year, but we are so convinced of the logic of this combination that we are glad to anticipate instead becoming BSY shareholders. The Seequent board congratulates and thanks Shaun Maloney for his long service and remarkably consistent success in growing this great business, its great management team, and this great outcome for Seequent investors and colleagues.”
Shaun Maloney, chief executive officer of Seequent, said, “By ‘leapfrogging ahead’ with Bentley to align geosciences with infrastructure engineering through deeper digital twins, Seequent underscores our conviction that better understanding of the earth creates a better world for all. Users and accounts of Seequent, as a Bentley Company, can expect business as usual, with many product and commercial synergies eventually forthcoming. For my Seequent colleagues, I am confident that the future is in safe hands with like-minded Bentley Systems and our COO Graham Grant, so this presents a timely moment for me to announce my planned retirement. For all, our new larger scope presents a great opportunity for shared advancement.”
Bentley’s CFO David Hollister said, “The transaction is expected to close in Q2, with the cash consideration settled via a combination of cash on hand and availability under our undrawn $850 million revolving credit facility. We expect Seequent to contribute in excess of $80 million to our ARR during this year. Seequent impressively has a historical and current organic revenue growth rate which, coupled with an operating margin profile similar to ours, makes Seequent accretive to our financial model. Our financing of this transaction is facilitated by having issued, earlier this year, $690 million in convertible debt, due 2026. Our deleveraging target—to reduce our total net leverage multiple of Adjusted EBITDA from under 4.0x post-closing, to about 2.5x over the next two years—could be accelerated by any future equity offerings.”
Advisors
BofA Securities is serving as financial advisor, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Bell Gully are acting as legal counsel, to Bentley Systems. Goldman Sachs is serving as financial advisor and DLA Piper is acting as legal counsel to Seequent.
Seequent is a world leader in the development of 3D geological modelling and visual data software for understanding subsurface geoscience and engineering design solutions.
Our solutions enable people to analyze complex data, manage risk and ultimately make better decisions about earth, environment, and energy challenges.
Seequent software is used on large-scale projects globally, including road and rail tunnel construction, groundwater detection and management, geothermal exploration, subsea infrastructure mapping, resource evaluation and subterranean storage of spent nuclear fuel.
Seequent’s global footprint includes its Christchurch-based HQ and R&D center, and a network of offices across Asia/Pacific, Africa, South America, North America and Europe servicing blue chip companies and customers with leading subsurface solutions in over 100 countries.
https://www.seequent.com
About Bentley SystemsBentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering software company. We provide innovative software to advance the world’s infrastructure – sustaining both the global economy and environment. Our industry-leading software solutions are used by professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, and industrial facilities. Our offerings include MicroStation-based applications for modeling and simulation, ProjectWise for project delivery, AssetWise for asset and network performance, and the iTwin platform for infrastructure digital twins. Bentley Systems employs more than 4,000 colleagues and generates annualized revenues of more than $800 million in 172 countries. www.bentley.com
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