Software group firms up listing details

Johannesburg, 14 Nov 2006

SilverBridge Holdings will list on the JSE's Alternative Exchange (AltX) on the last Monday of this month.

The company will make its appearance on the Johannesburg-based bourse on 27 November through a reverse listing through the Synergy cash shell and will then use funds raised to buy out SDT Financial Software Solutions.

The JSE has already given permission for the reverse listing and upgrade. The Synergy shell was initially listed on the JSE's Development Capital Market.

However, companies that move boards must undergo the same stringent requirements as those that list for the first time, Noah Greenhill, senior GM of marketing and business development at the bourse, has previously said.

In its first year of existence, the company aims to complete a black economic empowerment (BEE) transaction, bed down the listing, and complete at least one acquisition.

In a statement, the company said the listing will see 27.3 million shares being issued at R2 each, with R50 million of the funds raised being used to acquire SDT, which will then be the first company in the SilverBridge Holdings stable.

Insurance focus

SDT provides back-office software systems to the financial services market, with specific focus on the long-term insurance industry. The company employs more than 70 insurance professionals, and is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

Its customers include FNB, Old Mutual, Metropolitan, Regent Life and Standard General, and it operates in eight countries. SDT has grown at between 15% and 20% year-on-year and the company aims to beat that figure through organic and acquisitive growth.

"We are listing to create a strategic platform for growth through acquisition, and to give full effect to a pending BEE transaction," says SilverBridge CEO Jaco Swanepoel.

"Subsequent to listing, we will be looking to acquire companies of similar size to SDT, and especially companies without BEE credentials.

"Our strategy is initially to acquire synergistic and complementary companies so as to form a financial services software group, and then to form a broader software grouping.

"Specifically, we are looking to acquire companies with good financial models, where management is committed to staying and delivering value to investors."

SilverBridge's management team will be made up initially of Swanepoel, current SDT director Freda du Toit and financial director Jaco Maritz. A chairman will be announced after the empowerment transaction is finalised.