Reuters: Good roadshow momentum for Real Matters

With the NASDAQ hitting all-time highs, I suppose it should come as no surprise that our Fund III portfolio co. Real Matters is getting a good hearing as it meets with institutional accounts on the company’s recently-launched TSX IPO roadshow.

According to Reuters’ Scott Deveau, Bay Street now is talking about handing Jason Smith’s company a $1.1 billion valuation figure.  Depending upon the math, this could be seen to be up about 10% from the $1 billion “enterprise value” figure that Globe reporter Sean Silcoff was hearing only a week ago. Nothing speaks louder to a well-received roadshow than robust valuation discussions between the lead underwriters and the Buyside.

It has been a long time since our Wellington Financial Fund III provided its first growth capital tranche to the company (2010).  To think that revenue has grown from $20M to something like $270M during those seven years speaks to the vision — and execution — of the Real Matters management team.

It’s a real luxury for our team to have a patient, 10-year capital base that gives us the freedom to pick and choose when we should be deploying capital, and to whom.  Not every company seems this kind of growth, but when they do, it’s definitely one of the joys of our business.

That said, the recent sudden, tragic loss of long-time Real Matters executive Alistair Blackburn has served to put everything in perspective.  For all of the great stories that we get to be part of over our careers, it’s the great people that leave the deepest impressions.  Alistair was one of those “great people”, and we cannot truly enjoy the company’s watershed moment without wishing dearly that he was here to bask in this (ie, his) moment.

When the time comes, and not to “count our chickens”, a portion of the profit that our firm will make from this particular investment decision will be donated to the Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics in his name.

MRM

(disclosure – our Fund III owns equity securities in Real Matters)