New Zealand-based ikeGPS Group Limited (ASX/NZX:IKE), a pole data solutions company, is seeking to raise USD$13.44 million with the aim of expanding in the United States through acquisitions, according to a company press release.
“ikeGPS proposes to carry out the share placement and the share purchase plan in order to ensure it is well capitalized to execute on potential future acquisition opportunities as those opportunities arise, as well as to fund organic growth opportunities,” the company said in a prepared release.
ikeGPS Group provides software and cloud services for collecting, managing and analyzing pole and overhead asset information for electric utilities, communications companies and their engineering service providers.
In the first quarter of this year, Crown Castle International Inc. adopted the ikeGPS platform for pole-related 5G and fiber deployment processes. ikeGPS began deploying its systems during the quarter in several CCI regions, which more than doubles the comm-infra firm’s pre-construction speeds for network deployments, according to ikeGPS CEO Glenn Milnes. The expected revenue from the long-term engineering service provider contract is $700,000 annually, based on run rate ikeGPS platform usage. ikeGPS also has relationships with Verizon, AT&T and Corning.
ikeGPS has already begun its buying spree. For example, earlier this year it acquired the assets of Colorado-based Visual Globe LLC, a field-data collection company that uses aerial imagery, terrestrial LIDAR and Ground Penetrating Radar to create 3D engineering CAD models. It also purchased Alabama-based Powerline Technology, whose flagship product, PoleForeman, is one of the three industry-accepted pole loading analysis software solutions in North America.
ikeGPS is growing, too. In the first quarter this year, it saw a 300 percent jump in new contracts year over year, according to the Financial Review.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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