Aconex is an Australian based, global provider of construction management and collaboration software founded in 2000. Aconex pioneered the industry and is currently the global market leader. The company has transformed an industry that has traditionally been paper-heavy and inefficient. Aconex developed innovative software products to create massive efficiencies for major construction projects.
Aconex listed on ASX in 2014, during a time when Australian investors did not fully appreciate the software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses model. Our global view and previous SaaS experience allowed us to clearly understand their substantial global growth opportunity and the quality of their business model.
We instantly recognised the passion of CEO and Co-Founder Leigh Jasper, who possessed a bold long-term vision and who cared deeply about the culture of the business. When TDM invests in a business, we do so with an ownership mentality, and backing highly capable founders is highly aligned with this philosophy.
We felt strongly aligned to an innovative Australian business with a global growth aspirations and shared managements’ views on how big this business could be and the strategic value it could hold.
Immediately post IPO, we saw an opportunity to own a portion of the business at an attractive price. We had always been comfortable with the quality and vision of the co-founders and did not hesitate to back them when an opportunity presented itself.
Our early engagement with management allowed for deeper insight into the value drivers of the business, the company culture and the quality of the senior leadership team.
Aconex was acquired by Oracle in December 2017 for $1.6bn, equivalent to 8x enterprise value to next 12 months revenue. This represented a 48% premium to the market price prior to the announcement.
Aconex’s management team executed exceptionally well during the period that TDM was an owner, which resulted in the share price increasing over 4x from our initial entry price within 3 years.
