Speed of lightwhich provides point-of-sale (POS) systems to restaurants, is reportedly considering going private.
The company went public five years ago, but Dax DasilvaLightspeed’s interim CEO and founder wonders if going private would be a better option, Bloomberg reported Monday (March 25), citing a interview published on the Montreal French-language news site La Presse.
After trading at 16 Canadian dollars (about $12) per share, Lightspeed’s stock climbed to 155 Canadian dollars (about $114) per share in 2021, but fell later in the year, according to the report. It currently sits at about 13 Canadian dollars (about $9.60) per share, with the company valued at 2.9 billion Canadian dollars (about $2.1 billion).
While Dasilva said he thinks the stock market is a good place for Lightspeed, he said he wonders if the company could do more as a private company, adding that the company is always open to discussions on that topic, according to the report.
His comments follow those of a payment company NuveiOn March 17, Lightspeed announced it was considering acquisition offers, with Dasilva saying some people had told him Lightspeed could also do more as a private company, according to the report.
Nuvei issued its statement on March 17 in response to a Wall Street Journal report that it was about to be acquired by private equity business Advent International.
The fintech’s statement said its board has formed a committee to evaluate “expressions of interest” in the company and that it “is engaged in discussions with certain third parties in connection with a potential transaction involving continued significant participation by certain of the holders of multiple voting shares, including Phil FayerFounder, Chairman and CEO of Nuvei.”
Lightspeed sees a “huge opportunity” in the space it serves because many of its target customers are still using outdated legacy systems, the then-CEO said. JP Chauvet said in February during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call.
“We believe the majority of these customers will adopt cloud-based offerings in the coming years,” Chauvet said. “We are well positioned to benefit from this evolution and payments are now tightly integrated into the Software platform and mandatory for all eligible customers, we believe our unit profitability will only improve.”
