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KAPE Kape Technologies Plc

285.00
0.00 (0.00%)
18 Mar 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Kape Technologies Plc LSE:KAPE London Ordinary Share IM00BQ8NYV14 ORD USD0.0001
  Price Change % Change Share Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 285.00 0.00 00:00:00
Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price
279.00 285.00
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
  -
Last Trade Time Trade Type Trade Size Trade Price Currency
- O 0 285.00 GBX

Kape Technologies (KAPE) Latest News

Kape Technologies (KAPE) Discussions and Chat

Kape Technologies Forums and Chat

Date Time Title Posts
07/12/202318:02KAPE TECHNOLOGIES: cybersecurity for consumers3,663
02/12/201908:13KAPE canaveral rocket takes off. Heading for 220p 28

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Posted at 07/12/2023 18:02 by studentinvestor13
Kape Technologies, July 30, 2023 announcement. Layoff of 200 people, 30% of workforce.
The cybersecurity firm behind many popular VPN services such as ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, and Private Access Internet (PIA) will layoff 200 employees accounting for 30% of its workfoce, according to TechReport. The restructure will impact multiple departments including the three major teams mentioned above, as well as many high-ranking executives. Former CTO Dan Gericke decided to walk out entirely, though Kape Technologies has yet to officially announce the cuts. However, that hasn't stopped employees from talking about the moves on LinkedIn according to TechReport. “I decided to exit along with my many amazing colleagues that were terminated and am officially announcing my departure as CTO of ExpressVPN and the Kape Privacy Division,” Gericke said in a LinkedIn post. Stay tuned.

hxxps://www.informationweek.com/it-leadership/tech-company-layoffs-the-covid-tech-bubble-bursts-sep-14
Posted at 17/4/2023 16:00 by elbrus55
My only point was that it is not worth accepting the offer while the market price is higher. Yes, you need to do the FX. People keep replying with other points but it was a really very simple point.Agree . it is not really possible for the share price to fall more than fractionally below 344 cents while the offer is open as anybody could then just arbitrage by buying in the open market and accepting the offer.It is worth noting that the share price could fall fairly sharply once the offer expires. (The offer is unconditional, I believe. )
Posted at 28/3/2023 07:53 by adamb1978
Ali

Simply that a company like KAPE (industry, addressable market, metrics etc) would be more highly rated (trade on higher PE or EBITDA multiples) if it was listed on the main market in London or Nasdaq.

So all I mean is move from AIM to one of those markets - the share price would be higher as investors on those markets would rate it on a higher multiple.

The reason this happens is simply that certain institutional investors are not allowed to invest in AIM companies, and some private investors won't touch AIM because of the various frauds/scandals over the years.

I asked KAPE management 12-18 months ago on an investor call about such a move and they said that its something which the board has discussed or were discussing. I'll ask them again on the next call I join.

THe challenge which KAPE might have is that (i) I'm not sure whether other markets permit a >50% shareholder given the ability for that party to throw their weight around and (ii) other markets require higher free floats, and depending on how you view some of the other large investors in addition to Sagi, KAPE might not reach that level.

Therefore it could be that in order to move market, Sagi might needs to agree to sell down part of his holding - possibly not by much, and actually he'd get the value uplift on most of his holding via a re-rating

Adam
Posted at 15/2/2023 18:41 by tole
https://masterinvestor.co.uk/equities/small-cap-catch-up-cyber-security-bricks-shipbroking-and-debts/Kape Technologies (LON:KAPE) – Teddy The Price Is Not Cuddly EnoughWhat do you do when a company, in which you control 54.8% of the equity, is not being afforded a realistic market rating?That must have been a quandary facing Teddy Sagi, the Israeli-Cypriot multi-billionaire financier whose cyber security software services group Kape Technologies was suffering such a low valuation.So last December, when its shares were trading at only 225p, he approached the group's Board with a 265p a share cash bid for the 45.2% that his Isle of Man-based Unikmind investment company did not already own.The approach was rebuffed.In a statement to The Financial Times Sagi commented:"Having weighed the pros and cons of a public listing under the current macro uncertainties and thin stock market trading as well as new growth avenues, we are firm in our view that Kape's next chapter in its corporate journey should be within the private arena."On Monday of this week Sagi, who also owns Camden Market in North London, came back with his offer to the Board, after he was enabled to do so following restrictions being lifted.Again, the offer has been rejected by the Board, who advise shareholders to await their next comments.Immediately it became public knowledge, the shares lifted in price to touch 295p before resting 35p higher on the day at 292p.The dealing volume in the shares was nearly 100 times greater than the daily average, with some 31.8m traded on Monday.Last night they closed at 292.5p on the back of some 3m shares being traded.Such a cash offer may not succeed, however what Sagi has now given the market is a very clear marker of the price that he is more than willing to pay for this cracking technology services group's shares.Hold very tight and remember that just fifteen months ago they were up to 455p – although it may take a long time before my 2021 Target Price of 600p is achieved.I would guess that when he is able to, Sagi will dip into the market and soak up more shares.No doubt he will table a proposal to shareholders that the group is taken private, but he will need at least another 21% of the group's equity under his belt to secure such a voting victory.Come on Teddy give shareholders a good cuddle with a better price than 285p for their shares – you know that you can afford it and you also know that the shares are worth well over 400p at least.That does not mean that another bid would need to be around that price, but 325p a share feels a great deal more attractive.
Posted at 14/2/2023 08:40 by rivaldo
Investors' Champion call the offer "derisory"......more developments to come here imo:



"Kape shareholders receive another derisory offer.

Shareholders in Kape Technologies (AIM:KAPE), the digital security software provider, are pondering over another derisory offer from the company’s main shareholder Unikmind Holdings.

Isle of Man incorporated Unikmind, which is wholly-owned by Teddy Sagi, controls approximately 54.8% of shares.

The current offer price of 285p per share is a modest 11% premium to the share price last week and only 7.5% up on the share price back in September 2022 when it raised $222m in support of acquisitions.

Perhaps Unikmind should change its name to Unkind!"
Posted at 13/2/2023 20:40 by checkers2
From ft today:

Most tech investors are not used to low valuations. Teddy Sagi’s minorities should not settle for one either. The Israeli billionaire is offering to buy out minority shareholders in Aim-listed cyber security group Kape Technologies, valuing it at £1.25bn ($1.5bn). With more than half the shares already in Sagi’s hands, minorities should contest the skimpy 13 per cent premium to the three-month average price.

A cheap pound and low valuations have encouraged foreign investors to gobble up UK-listed tech companies. Kape, an acquirer of virtual private networks for mostly retail customers, is the latest. Disappointing results have weighed on the share price, down by half in dollar terms since the start of 2022, and underperforming the Nasdaq Composite by a third. At least the offer is higher than Kape’s most recent fundraising price at the end of last year.

Not that Kape is doing so badly. Purchasing Express VPN at the end of 2021 nearly trebled Kape’s revenues, estimated at $626mn last year. Express’s integration is progressing with $30mn of cost savings expected to be realised this year. Organic earnings growth is running at 17 per cent annually as of the first half of last year.

Sagi’s offer for Kape is worth 8 times forward ebitda, and in price terms still about 20 per cent below last year’s peak. Concerns about customer churn and cash conversion do weigh against Express VPN’s racy revenue growth profile.

Yet earnings per share growth could average 30 per cent between 2021 and 2024 assuming consensus forecasts are correct. That would suggest an attractive price/earnings compared to growth (PEG) ratio of 0.3. Usually, below 1 is attractive. UK-listed tech peer Avast was bought out by Norton LifeLock on a PEG ratio of 1.8, or an enterprise value to ebitda of 15 times in 2021.

Shares on Monday traded above the offer price. Even if Sagi controls most of the shares, Kape minorities still deserve more for their holdings.
Posted at 30/1/2023 17:02 by mrnumpty
I presume that the drop in the share price of Kape , in spite of announcing only a couple of weeks ago that it has had its “ best year ever “ ( RNS dated 17/1/2023 ) is due to the problems at Darktrace . A glance at Darktrace’s share price graph will show that it has fallen 47% in the last year and , even worse , from £ 9.45 ( 22/10/2022 ) to £ 2.17 now . However , although both companies work in cyber-security , that is where the similarities end - it’s like comparing apples and pears but I nonetheless suspect that , due to the superficial similarity , Kape is being affected by a quite different company . I seem to recall that , when Kape reached £ 3.00 a couple of weeks ago , posters here were writing that the Investors Chronicle had Kape on a forward p/e of about 8.5 , so it must now be around 7 , which seems pretty crazy . Any thoughts ?
Posted at 17/1/2023 12:58 by rivaldo
A final nice extract from Shore Capital's new note:

"Perspective on 2022

The full year earnings growth, 122% on a pro forma adjusted EBITDA basis, reflects an unswerving commitment to driving organic growth from new customer acquisition and upsell opportunities whilst also successfully executing on a highly ambitious M&A programme.

Over a longer period, Kape’s development is also impressive. One key metric – the SaaS user base – has advanced 28x in the past five years, from 260k at year end 2017 to c. 7.4m as at 31 December 2022. Such growth reflects Kape’s proven ability to leverage its digital marketing engine in addition to its capacity to execute on strategic acquisitions. Notably, both Private Internet Access (in 2019) and ExpressVPN (in 2021) had the effect of roughly doubling the user base while also building out a strong presence in North America (now c. 47% of users). At the same time, Kape’s revenues and adjusted EBITDA continued their rapid ascent, as reflected in FY19A-FY22A CAGRs of 111% and 128% respectively.

Clearly, share price performance is another important metric. From c. 40p in early 2017 to 299p today – a CAGR of c. 40% - Kape has delivered outsized returns for investors reflecting strong strategic execution. Below we contextualise both subscriber growth and share price performance.

While Kape has made remarkable progress to date, the ambition, focus and drive within the company remain as high as ever. These should not be underestimated. As the Company continues to scale up, both organically and in-organically, it ought to generate an even stronger platform for delivering growth and shareholder value.

Valuation and view

In our view, Kape continues to tick many boxes for investors as a high-growth SaaS business with market leading brands in a global target market, providing exceptional midcap exposure to one of the key themes in IT – digital privacy and security. The Company also deserves credit for consistently strong execution and profit delivery versus market expectations.

At 299, Kape trades on 8.5x EV/EBITDA for FY23F (versus 5-year mean of c. 13x) and a PE ratio of 9.4x (versus 5-year mean of c. 20x). The upside potential continues to be supported by cash flows and the earnings growth potential coming from secular organic growth in digital privacy and security, through acquisition potential and through further leveraging business performance driving margins higher. Altogether, we view Kape’s current valuation as extremely modest for its growth prospects and strategic sure-footedness."
Posted at 18/11/2022 08:45 by rivaldo
Here's Shares Mag's article from this week's new issue:

"Kape Technologies is the cheap way to invest in the hot cybersecurity trend

A forward PE ratio of 6.4 looks like growth at an absolute bargain price

We believe the cybersecurity industry looks like a great place to invest for the long-run, and Kape Technologies (KAPE:AIM) is an under-the-radar way to do so.

As the number of hacking attacks on government agencies and major businesses surge, digital defence budgets are also rising rapidly, and increasingly consumers are having to think hard about how they protect themselves and their valuable online data.

Kape provides consumer cybersecurity solutions, moving rapidly to expand its suite of privacy and security services since 2016 through acquisitions, including Cyberghost, Intego, PIA and Webselenese for around $300 million combined.

Yet it was September 2021’s $936 million purchase of virtual private network group
ExpressVPN that promises to be transformational. Alongside bolstering its market strategy and research and development capabilities, Kape has already started realising ‘significant’ operational benefits, such as back-office cost-savings and
leveraging of economies of scale in infrastructure and marketing.

The group has relied on a combination of equity and debt raises to support this M&A, with equity raises include a $354 million placing in September 2021 to partially fund the ExpressVPN acquisition and, just last month, another $222.5 million capital raise to refresh its war chest.

Kape had been looking to raise approximately $100 million to $200 million but investor demand saw it raise more, including money from entrepreneur Teddy Saggi, whose Unikmind trust retained its 55% shareholding. Saggi founded gambling software firm Playtech (PTEC).

Such strong support for Kape will have been helped by compound annual growth of revenue and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 56% and 83% respectively, according to Shore Capital analysis, since 2017.

Half-year results on 12 September revealed 217% revenue growth to $302.4 million, a 19% increase on a pro forma organic basis, and reiterated the full year outlook for 117% pro forma adjusted EBITDA growth at the midpoint of the guidance range of
$166 million to $172 million. Importantly, cash generation remains strong, having reported $352 million of free cash flow in 2021.

Gross margins run at over 90% although return on equity and investment metrics could do with improvement, at 9.6% and 8.7% respectively, according to Investing.com data. The company said in September that it is more confident than
ever in its prospects.

A 2023 calendar price to earnings multiple of 6.4, based on Shore Capital forecasts, means the shares are very cheap."
Posted at 07/11/2022 11:23 by rivaldo
Cheers wad collector.

Techinvest's new issue is now out, so it should be OK to post their Buy recommendation and extensive review of the interims from last month's issue:

"Kape Technologies
251p (KAPE; AIM)

Kape has reported a strong performance across the first half ended June 30, underpinned by profitable growth and integration synergies. Revenue was up by 216.6% to US$302.4m, a 19% increase on a pro forma organic basis. Recurring revenues showed particularly strong growth, up by 353.5% to US$59.1m. Most of the growth in recurring revenue was due to the acquisition of ExpressVPN in December 2021. Adjusted EBITDA was up 209.7% to US$88.9m, an increase of 17% on a pro forma basis, with operating profit up 333.8% to US$59.0m. Diluted adjusted earnings per share were 278.9% higher at 34.1 US cents. Adjusted cash flow from operations increased by 517% to US$90.1m.

Kape reported that ongoing demand for privacy and security products continues to drive both new customer growth and upsell opportunities from existing subscribers. The company now has around 7 million paying customers across its products, with the user base mostly consisting of 20-45 year olds, with over 45% from North America
and around 30% located across Europe. Privacy segment revenues grew by 19% on a pro forma organic basis, with the security division growing 15.7%.

Good progress was made in integrating ExpressVPN, the highly earnings accretive
acquisition which significantly scales the group. Unified teams have been created across Kape’s privacy business, with US$9.0m of synergies expected to be realised in 2022. Kape’s content division, based on the Webselenese acquisition, generated significant organic growth, with revenues up 25% on a pro forma basis. For the year
to December 31, the company expects to generate revenues of between US$610-624m and pro forma adjusted EBITDA of between US$166-172m.

Separately, Kape announced that it has raised gross proceeds of US$222.5m through a placing to institutional investors, and an offer to retail investors via the PrimaryBid platform, at a placing price of 265p per share. The fundraise was significantly oversubscribed. Proceeds will be used to enhance Kape’s ability to accelerate growth through acquisitions.

As these results reveal, Kape is experiencing growing demand across the full range of its product suite, reinforced by a premium service offering. Substantial organic growth was achieved alongside the successful integration of ExpressVPN, a transformational acquisition that has made Kape a leading player in the global digital privacy and security segment.

With phishing and social engineering attacks growing in sophistication, consumers are increasingly seeking to obtain more comprehensive cybersecurity coverage across their range of appliances. Moreover, the increase in remote working has made employers more aware of the need for strong digital security across the devices employees use to access company systems at home. These trends are particularly supportive for Kape’s consumer focussed business, leading to both an increase in demand for digital privacy and security protection and a growing willingness from individuals to pay for enhanced services.

Alongside this boost, the company also expects to realise further synergies from the ExpressVPN acquisition, with a figure of US$30.0m annualised synergies pencilled in for next year. Given Kape’s record of success with acquisitions to date, the proceeds from the large fundraise last month are likely to be put to very good use. Continue to buy."
Kape Technologies share price data is direct from the London Stock Exchange

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