Crouching market, hidden value (Note from Paris)
Recently I met with the VC backers of a (lamentably) public company growing at 40% annually, profitably, with a market capitalization equal to the cash on the balance sheet. The public market is quicksand here, and has swalled several fine companies. There is no squeeze-out mechanism, which means that a buyer can't reliably predict whether a tender will deliver 100% of the equity in a target. Combine this factor with an artifically low valuation benchmark and up with tens of millions of dollars in enterprise value trapped in an under-performing public market. The only redeeming factor is the relatively low cost of being public, which is a fraction of the overhead incurred by Sarbox-compliant NASDAQ companies. On the other hand, jailhouse food is free, but that doesn't mean the inmates enjoy it.
Posted by NatBurgess, President on 24 December 2009
Comments (0)