Feb 2 (Reuters) – Australia-listed Qoria said on Monday that U.S.-based Aura Consolidated Group would acquire the tech firm at an implied valuation of A$972 million ($675.64 million), and then relist the merged entity on the Australian stock exchange.
Under the proposed offer, Aura will acquire all of the existing shares of Qoria at an implied price of A$0.72 per share, more than double the stock’s last close.
Qoria has a market capitalization of A$453.7 million, as per LSEG data.
After the deal is completed, Qoria would become a unit of the Boston-headquartered Aura and the newly combined entity would trade on the Australian stock exchange with the ticker symbol AXQ. Qoria’s board has recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
The combined group will be valued at A$3 billion before any external funding or equity raising, the companies said.
Qoria, formerly known as Family Zone, was founded in 2015 and provides online safety, digital wellbeing and cyber security solutions for schools and families. Its platform is currently being used by 32,000 schools, supporting 9 million parents, according to the company’s website.
Aura is a provider of online safety solutions to individuals and families. Should the merger go through, the combination would create an online security platform for home, work, and school.
As part of the transaction, the Australian firm plans to raise $75 million at an expected price of A$12.38 per AXQ share.
In October last year, shares of Qoria had surged nearly 10% to a then eight-year high of A$0.94 on upbeat annual revenue forecast. The stock has fallen more than 64% since then.
In 2024, Qoria knocked down a $307 million takeover offer from venture capital K1 Investment Management, LLC, citing the offer undervalued the firm.
($1 = 1.4386 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
