Karl Redenbach (LiveTiles)
Publicly listed collaboration platform, LiveTiles has gone into the hands of receivers.
Michael Korda, Andrew Knight and Craig Shepard of KordaMentha were appointed on 7 December as receivers and managers of the business by 1Venture (1V) Credit Trusco.
Receivers are now in control of all LiveTiles assets, undertakings and operations, and are seeking options to sell business assets or recapitalise.
KordaMentha is appointed to LiveTiles only and not to any of its subsidiaries, which remain unaffected by the receivership appointment, the statement said.
“Notwithstanding that 1V continues to have the benefit of security over certain primary operating subsidiaries in the group, 1V has confirmed that it does not intend to exercise its rights or take enforcement action against those subsidiaries at this time,” the statement said.
“Receivers expect that all subsidiaries will continue to operate on a business-as-usual basis and with minimal disruption, while the receivers seek offers for the sale or recapitalisation of the group.
“Suppliers of the subsidiaries requiring further information regarding the ongoing trading should in the first instance speak with their usual contact person.”
As a result, trading has been suspended on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
In the first half of FY23, LiveTiles undertook a thorough operational review to significantly reduce operating costs, refocus on its value proposition and enhance discipline in the company.
This led to a major organisational restructure in the second half of FY23 and a streamlined business model.
In an address to shareholders in November, newly appointed chair Steven Gray said that while the review was successful, resulting in a 36 per cent reduction in operating costs, this did impact its revenue and several existing R&D partnerships. Mixed with market conditions, this saw a 42 per cent decline in revenue for the business of $30.6 million, compared to FY22.
“The decision to exit the R&D partnerships was to achieve operational simplicity and transparency for our core business,” Gray said.
LiveTiles also centralised its development activities to two locations in Porto, Portugal and Sligo, Ireland.
“These steps were taken to future-proof our company and ensure that we reach our commitment of achieving cash flow breakeven in the second half of FY24,” he said.
Gray said there was a strong opportunity for LiveTiles in the enterprise software market as organisations continued to invest in more diverse ways of working and communicating with staff. The platform boasts more than 900 enterprise-class customers with high retention rates. In FY23, the organisation secured 63 new customers.
LiveTiles CEO David Vander was only six months in the role until he resigned after the company planned to axe 48 roles globally.
At one stage, Australia-founded software vendor Bigtincan put an offer on the table to acquire 100 per cent of LiveTiles, but later withdrew after “limited engagement from LiveTiles and not being granted access to due diligence.”
LiveTiles was founded in 2012 by Karl Redenbach and Peter Nguyen-Brown and listed on the ASX in 2015.
Since its inception, LiveTiles made many acquisitions along the way including Hyperfish, Wizdom, CYCL and The Human Link.
Redenbach took on a new role as head of global growth in April, reporting to Vander and working as an independent contractor.
LiveTiles was trading at $0.005 at the time of publication.
