The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Australian enterprise software iconoclast Atlassian has filed for an IPO in the US, which is expected to hit the US boards before the end of the year.
The decision to raise capital in North America is no big surprise, but will come as a disappointment to the operators of the local bourse at the ASX Limited (ASX: ASX) and many local fundies and investors.
The Sydney start-up posted revenues of US$215 million for the financial year ending June 30 2014, up 44% over the prior year, with expectations for continued strong growth.
Atlassian already services more than 43,000 companies including Citigroup, eBay, Coca-Cola, and Netflix. The business even has NASA as a client, which means its software operates on a different planet – literally.
The financials are equally impressive with the company posting a 10-year streak of profitability to sit alongside 10 years of double-digit revenue growth.
These kind of stats will make it mouth-wateringly attractive to investors who are used to a diet of loss-making tech start-ups commonly going to IPO to raise cash to fund capital and operating expenses while they struggle on the road to profitability. Going public also brings with it the potential for scrip-based acquisitions of junior rivals.
Other up-and-coming software related businesses on the local stock exchange include XERO FPO NZ (ASX: XRO), Vista Group International Ltd (ASX: VGI), Urbanise.com Ltd (ASX: UBN) and iSentia Group Ltd (ASX: ISD).
