CorVu Takes Minnesota in “Back-Door” Nasdaq Listing

Business intelligence vendor CorVu, which started in Sydney but has moved to the US, has announced that it will merge with an Internet start-up in its new home to help raise funds on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

CorVu will undergo a “reverse takeover” with Minnesota American, a small
company worth less than AUS$8 million (US$5 million) with two businesses
targeting schoolchildren called LockerMate and Favorite Memories.

Under the
terms of the deal, Minnesota will sell off the two companies, which made
AUS$4.5 million (US$2.9 million) last year, in exchange for 25 per cent of
the combined company and two board seats.

While Minnesota American is listed on the NASDAQ exchange, ten-year-old
CorVu only entered the US market in 1995, although it now makes almost half
of its revenue in the American market with offices in Minnesota, Atlanta,
Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Washington. CorVU has also expanded into Europe, based around an office in
Rotterdam.

Justin Macintosh, Australian-born CEO of CorVu, will possess a controlling
interest in the merged company as he now owns more than three quarters of
CorVu.

CorVu expects to double its revenues next year from AUS$19 million (US$12
million) to AUS$40 million (US$26 million), as it joins most of its fellow
BI vendors in releasing enterprise information portal software. The company
said its revenues had “nearly doubled” in the past two fiscal years as
well, with an installed base of over 2,000 customers.

The two companies said they anticipated that the transaction would close in
the fourth quarter.