Geneva-based banking software group, Temenos, is to announce plans for an initial public offering on the Swiss stock exchange that could value it at up to $1 billion, according to reports from the FT and Bloomberg.
According to the reports, the company, which provides back-office software to some 250 banks and financial groups, is set to raise around $150 million through a share offering to institutional investors, raising a further $50 million from existing shareholders.
In the year to June 2000, Temenos had revenues of $69.4 million, a 60 per cent rise on last year, and profits of $8.6 million. In the nine months to March 2001 revenues were $86 million, reports the FT.
Founded in 1993 by George Koukis, the current chief executive, Temenos employs 1200 personnel worldwide. Koukis is set to retain the bulk of his 48 per cent holding after IPO. The proceeds of the IPO, led by Deutsche Bank and co-managed by Bank Julius Baer, will be used to expand in the US, Japan and China and develop new products, say the reports.
According to the influential international banking systems analyst, IBS Publishing, Temenos enjoyed a strong year of sales success in 2000. The company's Globus solution topped the IBS Sales League Table with the acquisition of 42 new customers, placing it comfortably ahead of its peers, including the various Misys subsidiaries operating in this sector.
The IPO, one of the largest since the recent downturn in sentiment towards the TMT sector, will test investor's appetite for new issues in software and technology. No announcement of the IPO, or details of its terms, were available on the Temenos web site to confirm the reports.