Syft is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Ampersand Capital Partners (Ampersand) to invest $22.8m in Syft, subject to shareholder approval. Ampersand will subscribe to 17,545,000 convertible preference shares, equivalent to 19.6% of the total shares post-investment, at a price of $1.30 per share.
Ampersand is a Boston, Massachusetts, USA based private equity investor, founded in 1988 and with more than US$2billion assets under management. They specialise in the life sciences and healthcare sectors, and have deep expertise in this space.
As part of the investment, Syft will also welcome Mr David Patteson to the Board. Mr Patteson leads Ampersand’s Portfolio Acceleration team, and currently serves as Chairman of US headquartered Alliance Pharma. He has over 30 years of experience in the space in Board and CEO roles, scaling businesses built on mass spectrometry and other analytical instrumentation technologies.
Alex Fala, CEO of Syft, comments “Syft continues to build momentum in our core business. The capital from Ampersand will allow us to accelerate our progress in the semiconductor market and develop our next scalable opportunity in life sciences. Dave Patteson and Ampersand have deep expertise and networks that are directly applicable in Syft. We couldn’t think of a better partner to have on our next phase.”
Dave Patteson, Partner at Ampersand, shared “Syft has a remarkable technology and product platform, with notable traction in semiconductor and adjacent segments. Their life science market pull, applications and commercial expertise, combined with Ampersand’s investments, should allow for meaningful penetration and adoption rates. We are thrilled to partner with their executive team, board, and shareholders to help realize the full potential.”
Following this announcement shareholders will receive two invitations:
- A formal notice of meeting to attend the Special Meeting to vote on the ordinary resolutions to issue capital and formally appoint Mr Patteson to the Board. And;
- An update on the company strategy from CEO, Alex Fala, at 10am, Thursday 7th Please register your interest via the following link, where you will also find further instructions on how to participate.
Operational Update
We are now in the final days of the financial year, and Syft is projecting an unaudited full year revenue of $34m, 18% growth YoY.
Mr Fala commented “We are pleased to have returned to growth mode in FY22. We have a large pipeline, including significant potential orders from our major customers. We had aimed for more of that revenue to come into the FY22 year, but that hasn’t ultimately met with our customers’ operational plans and the impacts of the Omicron variant. That’s somewhat the reality of the current concentration in our revenue, which we continue to work on in our sales activities.”
To further support the business growth, Syft has appointed Sharonn Zimmerman as Vice President of People and Capability. Sharonn will oversee every aspect of the people function as Syft develops its talent, capability and culture to enable global growth.
Sharonn brings over 30 years of experience in a myriad of HR leadership roles. In her early career, she was appointed by Ixchange/FrontRange Solutions as HR Director to support their transition from a private to Nasdaq listed company. She spent 12 years with Dimension Data / NTT, as head of the talent integration and organisational development practices, receiving a number of awards for her innovative, people-centred approach and ability to scale for growth. She joins Syft after spending just short of three-years in a strategic HR role with the Ministry of Social Development, the lead agency in the social sector.
Sharonn commented, “I’m thrilled at the opportunity of joining Syft, a homegrown success story, and returning to my business roots. Syft is a big little company, small enough to enable agility and pace, while also big in ambition and global footprint. I’m particularly energised at the prospect of working alongside a relatively new and dynamic leadership team, and supporting the company’s growth agenda.”
Sharonn will join the team based in Christchurch at the end of April.
About Syft
Syft Technologies Limited is a world leading provider of Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) solutions. Revolutionizing the trace analysis world, Syft’s instruments enable the rapid, targeted and comprehensive analysis of compounds in air to a parts-per-trillion level. Syft’s technology is used in industries including semiconductor, energy, life sciences, environmental, consumer products, laboratory and research, security and air quality monitoring. Based in Christchurch, Syft trades on New Zealand’s Unlisted Securities Exchange (USX: SYF). Further information is available at syft.com.
About Ampersand Capital Partners
Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm with more than $2 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston and Amsterdam, Ampersand leverages its unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. Additional information about Ampersand is available at ampersandcapital.com.
Enquiries:
Alex Fala
Chief Executive Officer
alex.fala@syft.com
Nicole Robinson
Chief Financial Officer
alex.fala@syft.com
