Datalex set to Delist After 25 Years on Dublin market

The outcome of Datalex’s extraordinary general meeting (egm) next Thursday on plans to delist the retail software provider to airlines, after 25 years on the Dublin market, is a certainty.

The company needs 75 percent of voting investors to back the resolution. The three biggest shareholders, lead by billionaire Dermot Desmond, now own 75.7 percent between them and are firmly behind the plan. This wouldn’t have been proposed without Desmond’s support, as he owns 49 percent of the equity.

In addition,members of the board,chaired by David Hargaden,have committed their combined 0.78 percent.

Datalex argues that delisting will allow management to focus more on strategy and execution,cut as much as $1.4 million of annual costs linked to being a publicly traded company, and give it greater access to capital, including private equity or strategic investors.

It would also improve the company’s perception among customers, suppliers, and staff, removing the possibly negative reference point of its quoted market value, which has remained at a discount to what analysts believe is its true value for years.

But why now? Especially when Datalex is showing real signs of recovery? This follows years of turmoil, triggered by an accounting scandal in early 2019, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, and compounded by the company issuing overly optimistic medium-term financial targets in 2023.

Datalex reported at the end of July, the day it announced the delisting plan, that it had reached a milestone of returning to positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization – excluding currency fluctuations. Sales had increased 9 percent year-on-year to €14.5 million.

However, crucially, platform revenue – a recurring revenue stream earned from airlines using its products to sell seats and ancillary products –