The directors of Irvine-based business software maker Kofax Ltd. are scheduled to vote this week on a proposal to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange.
The company, which has maintained a listing on the U.K.’s top exchange since 1996, is looking to “reduce on-going costs” and simplify administrative and regulatory requirements, considering most of its daily share trading volume is on the Nasdaq exchange.
Kofax began trading on the tech-heavy U.S. exchange in December 2013 under the symbol KFX, raising $11 million in an initial public offering. It has since maintained a dual listing.
The delisting, which is expected to be approved, would take effect by the end of March but not less than 20 business days following the resolution.
The move would further distance the company from its U.K. roots and signifies a long-held intention to build a presence and awareness among U.S. investors. The company moved its operational base from London to Irvine in 2009.
The company’s annual revenue is about $290 million.
Internet of Things Buy
Irvine-based Ubiquity Inc. acquired a Northern California security software maker that specializes in the hot Internet of Things market.
It will take over Pacifica-based Coversant Inc. in an exchange for more 13.2 million shares of its common stock, valued at about $5 million. Conversant Chief Executive Dale Okuno will join Ubiquity’s board, and the company’s management team will be retained.
Conversant’s technology, which the U.S. Department of Defense has certified, secures communication between devices from different manufacturers and means of connectivity, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Z-Wave.
The company had sales of $1.2 million last year.
Its recent buy signals yet another turn for Ubiquity, which has acquired more than 100 patents around the world but has struggled to monetize them.
It posted combined sales of about $425,000 in 2012 and 2013, losing more than $63 million in that time.
The company’s shares on the over-the-counter exchange had a market value of about $560 million in late September but have since fallen 91%.
The company pulled a proposed $40 million public offering late last month, noting that “current market conditions would cause a dilution to our shareholders,” according to a regulatory filing.
Ubiquity announced its first software distribution deal in September with Hong Kong-based motherboard maker American Tec Co., which plans to embed Ubiquity’s new search engine software throughout Asia. The software is geared for smartphones and tablets.
The company projects the deal will generate about $150 million in annual sales, founder Chris Carmichael told the Business Journal at the time.
Tech Job Losses
Last year marked the highest number of job cuts in the technology industry since the teeth of the recession, according to Chicago-based consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
The sector shed 100,757 jobs last year, up 77% from the cuts in 2013. The losses were the highest since 2009, when there were 65,300 layoffs.
The computer industry was the hardest hit in terms of downsizing as companies shed 59,523 workers, 69% more than in 2013.
OC’s economy wasn’t immune to the ongoing woes in the declining computer segment. The Business Journal in August reported that Irvine-based Vizio Inc. halted PC and tablet production as it reconsiders a product strategy forged in 2012 when it entered the market.
