Tracker On Canadian Trail
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday July 24, 1995
Mr Robert Sloan, the chairman and director of Tracker Software International Inc, had no qualms swapping equity for growth when his company needed cash to expand internationally.
What he wanted was investors to believe in him, his software products and the commitment to let him do what he did best.
In the hunt for funds he found banks were uninterested and unimaginative and venture capitalists were both mean and greedy, and wouldn't inject the necessary cash to nurture growth.
An alternative route was to list on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, a nursery for SMEs. He says the Australian Stock Exchange was rejected because there was no second board, listing costs were prohibitive and great humbug was generated around documentation.
Vancouver listing is simpler and cheaper. Documentation costs about $140,000 and underwriting fees are about 7.0 per cent as amounts raised do not exceed $3 million.
Since listing, the company has sold 35 per cent of its shares for $2.2 million through public and private placements - and has doubled sales every year. It has offices in the US, Germany, the UK generating 60 per cent of its income.
If funds had not been raised the company would have focused on Australia, relying on unreliable overseas distributors for 15 per cent of total revenue.
The next step for Tracker is to list on big international exchanges such as Toronto and North America when it needs to sell more equity for expansion funds. This step will be easier because of the Vancouver listing.
© 1995 Sydney Morning Herald