Dye & Durham management are making an offer to take the tech company private less than a year after IPO

Board launches strategic process to evaluate options, including sale of part or all of company

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Management at legal-technology company Dye & Durham Ltd. are making a bid to take the company private less than one year after its successful public market debut.

The management-led group has made an “expression of interest” to acquire the Vancouver-based company for $50.50 per share, a 23 per cent premium to its Friday closing share price of $40.99, the company announced on Monday. The company said a special committee of independent directors would evaluate its options in the wake of the proposal, including selling either part or all of the company, or a merger.

It also raised its financial guidance to $220 million in annualized adjusted EBITDA, up from previous guidance of $200 million.

Dye & Durham shares have already soared more than fivefold since its July 2020 initial public offering, which raised $150 million and was 13 times oversubscribed.

D&D has been on an acquisition spree. In May, it purchased U.K.-based legal data provider Future Climate Info Ltd. for $94 million and U.K.-based property-software company Terrafirma IDC Ltd. for $20 million.

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It also expanded beyond its main markets in Canada and Britain, buying SAI Global’s Australian property division for $89 million in January and Australia-based GlobalX for $166 million in February.

The frenzy of M&A activity has fuelled the company’s rapid growth. D&D reported $68.9 million in revenue in its third quarter ending March 31, jumping 300 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Australian media reports suggested that D&D had also bid for a stake in property transaction settlement company Property Exchange Australia.

While Dye & Durham’s shares have soared since the IPO, they are down 19 per cent since the beginning of the year. Its stock climbed as much as 17 per cent in early trading on Monday.

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