Ferrari-driving Brisbane entrepreneur Jordan Grives has just offloaded his Fone Dynamics business in a deal worth up to $8.4 million
Young gun entrepreneur Jordan Grives has sold his Fone Dynamics messaging and call analytics business to newly-listed internet services provider in a deal worth up to $8.4 million
QLD Business
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DOING IT AGAIN
It looks like Brisbane tech dynamo Jordan Grives has done it again.
The Ferrari-driving young gun entrepreneur has just offloaded his Fone Dynamics messaging and call analytics business to newly-listed South Australian internet services provider Uniti Wireless in a deal worth up to $8.4 million.
The transaction follows the near $30 million that Grives pocketed in 2016, when he sold his Fonebox enterprise to NASDAQ-listed American internet services firm J2 Global.
Since then, the 30-year-old bizoid has built up his property portfolio, gotten behind the wheel of more than a few luxury sports cars and enjoyed plenty of jetsetting around the world. He even briefly owned a wine bar in Teneriffe.
Under the Uniti deal announced on Wednesday, Grives will receive $5.04 million worth of shares in the company by June 1.
If a range of performance hurdles are cleared, he’ll get another $3.4 million mostly or entirely in stock next year.
Grives, who plans to remain in Brisbane, will also join the company’s executive team, meaning he’s got a plenty of skin in the game.
He told City Beat yesterday that he was first approached about a month ago by Vaughan Bowen, the seasoned telco industry player who joined Uniti in March after stints with M2 Group and Vocus Communications.
“It’s just the right opportunity for me,’’ Grives said.
“I’m super pumped. They have a proven track record and this gives me a good opportunity to build the business.’’
Sure, but does he have any concerns about getting bought out in such a share-focused sale?
None at all.
“It’s in my nature to be a little bit riskier,’’ he said. “I wanted to show my support for the business and I can roll the dice.’’
A FEW HURDLES
Adelaide-based Uniti only joined the ASX in mid-February after raising $13.2 million from investors at 25 cents per share.
That was shy of the $18 million the company hoped for but the share price has trended upwards since trading kicked off and it closed at 59.5 cents yesterday.
That’s got to be good news for Grives, whose Fone Dynamics is merely the latest company gobbled up in Uniti’s aggressive strategy to grow through acquisition.
Uniti has struck elsewhere in Queensland, announcing plans last month to shell out $450,000 for Brisbane broadband provider Pivit.
But it was knocked back in its attempt to snare internet services group Spirit Telecom.
That’s not the only hurdle facing Uniti, which sacked co-founders Che Metcalfe and Sasha Baranikov just a day after listing.
The ASX promptly fired off a “please explain’’ letter about an apparent lack of timely disclosure in the firings but the firm defended the move, saying it was part of its acquisition of FuzeNet.
The firm has also suffered a $4.8 million net loss in the last financial year and $2.35 million of red ink in 2017.
This prompted auditors to wheel out their standard caveat about a “material uncertainty’’ existing over Uniti’s ability to survive.
But the company said it achieved strong net positive cash flow in the March quarter and yesterday CEO Michael Simmons described the Fone Dynamics buyout as a “fantastic
transaction’’.
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