Topic: beaconsmind announced a new corporate structure around the newly formed group with Jonathan Sauppe as new CEO and the operating HQ in Munich.

Sauppe, who has been part of the bord as well as head of the beaconsmind hotspot vertical, succeeds Max Weiland as CEO, who founded the company back in 2015 and will remain one of the shareholders. Prior to this, he was the CEO of FREDERIX Hotspot (51% acquired by beaconsmind in Q4’22) for almost 10 years, where he gained significant industry expertise.

Moreover, as FREDERIX is playing a significant role in the group’s growth prospects (eNuW: >40% of pro forma group sales FY23e), beaconsmind increased its stake in the company to 62%. The purchase price of the additional 11% is partially paid in cash paired with the commitment of Sauppe to convert his remaining 11% stake in FREDERIX into beaconsmind shares (75k shares).

In order to fund the cash component as well as possible further M&A transactions, the company resolved an additional cash capital increase to the tune of CHF 1.4m. In fact, at least one further acquisition should be in the books throughout the year to broaden the product portfolio. The capital increase was fully subscribed by major shareholder Crown, now holding around 47%.

Going forward, the company looks set for dynamic top-line growth thanks to (1) the high scalability of the beacons and WiFi Hotspot technology as well as (2) cost synergies after the acquisitions of FREDERIX and Socialwave, which should already become visible by the end of the year (eNuW: € 1m). In a call with new CEO Sauppe last week, we have been told that the company aims to eliminate duplicate structures, especially in the sales and development departments, to create a leaner cost structure. Paired with strong organic and anorganic growth, this should allow for EBITDA margins north of 30% in the mid-term. 

In addition, we expect the introduction of a new comprehensive product, which combines the beacon and WiFi technology to allow for a more in depth and precise in-store customer tracking and analytics.

We reiterate BUY with a reduced PT of € 25.00 (old: € 27.00) based on DCF, due to the increased share base.