Seen & Heard: Globoforce set to list on Nasdaq

Irish software business valued at €400 million

Globoforce chief executive officer Eric Mosley.

Irish software business Globoforce looks set to list its shares on Nasdaq within a week, according to the Sunday Independent.

The software company specialising in employee reward and incentive systems, is valued at €400 million, according to the paper, which says it signalled its intention to float last November with the US securities regulator, the SEC.

Of course, last February, the Sunday Times reported the company had filed paperwork for a Nasdaq flotation with the SEC, and was expected to make a final decision “within weeks”. It appears that time may have arrived.

Globoforce was founded in Dublin in 1999 by chief executive Eric Mosley, but now has its main office in Boston.

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Backers include Barry Maloney’s Balderton Capital, which holds 41.5 per cent according to the Sunday Independent, and Atlas Ventures, a tech and life sciences private equity group, with 31.5 per cent.

The company has 80 clients, with more than 1.9 million people, including GE, Procter & Gamble, Symantec, Thomson Reuters and JetBlue.


IBRC disclosure
Liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corp are reported to have made a "significant" voluntary disclosure to the Revenue in recent weeks over a number of tax "irregularities" at the former Anglo Irish Bank, the Sunday Business Post reported.

The disclosure follows a lengthy investigation of the former bank by Revenue and relates to problems that have emerged since the bank went into liquidation.

The paper says that while some of the issues date back to Anglo Irish, others relate to the period after the bank was nationalised in early 2009.


Providence funding
Efforts by Providence Resources to secure an international partner in the Barryroe prospect off the south coast look set to be deferred, according to a report in the Sunday Times, which suggests Providence will first have to spend up to $40 million drilling a new appraisal well to confirm the scope of the find.

The listed Irish business, run by Tony O’Reilly, owns 80 per cent of the Barryroe field, with minnow Lansdowne Oil & Gas controlling the remainder. It had hoped to farm out half its interest to an international partner.

However, the paper reported that likely partners among the oil majors are looking for further proof on the extent of the field, which is estimated to contain more than one billion barrels of oil. That is likely to lead to a delay of up to 18 months.

Broker Davy is reported as stating that there are currently insufficient funds available to secure a drilling rig this year, with the company facing the prospect of having to raise cash either on the stock market or through private equity.