SiteMinder Grabs Unicorn Status in Australia IPO

Chalk one up for the behind-the-scenes channel managers and hotel distribution: Sydney-based SiteMinder achieved unicorn status in an initial public offering in Australia, and had a market cap of around $1.4 billion (AU $1.88 billon) at the close of trading Monday.

Founded in 2006 by Mike Ford and Mike Rogers, SiteMinder debuted November 8 on the Australian Securities Exchange trading under the ticker symbol SDR after an oversubcribed stock market debut of $465 million (AU $627 million).

The company offered close to 124 million shares at $3.75 (AU $5.06) each, and was primed to open Tuesday after its first day of trading at $5.20 (AU $7.01), a 38.5 percent leap.

The bulk of the proceeds went to pay off existing venture capital and institutional investors.

In September, SiteMinder picked up pre-IPO backing of $74 million (AU $100 million) from Blackrock, which had already been a major investor.

"Long-term SiteMinder shareholder Bailador Technology Investments will continue as a substantial shareholder," SiteMinder stated in announcing its public market debut.

SiteMinder, which is based in Sydney, Australia and has 900 staff members in offices in Bangkok, Berlin, Dallas, Galway, London, and Manila, said it facilitated $35 billion in revenue for hotels in 2019 prior to the Covid outbreak.

Of SiteMinder's own revenue, more than 60 percent is produced outside of Asia Pacific, the company said.

The vast majority of the lodging companies that subscribe to SiteMinder's services are small- and medium-size businesses.

In a statement, SiteMinder CEO Sankar Narayan said "in many ways, we're just getting started. We are excited to have taken this step, which represents the next stage of the SiteMinder business and our ongoing evolution."