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Rokt begins IPO prep; JLM beauty parade underway

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Bankers, get your pitches ready.

Bruce Buchanan’s marketing tech company Rokt has kicked off discussions with investment banks to support its multibillion dollar NASDAQ float in late 2023, which is expected to attract interest from US and Aussie institutions alike.

Rokt CEO Bruce Buchanan is getting the business ready for a float in late 2023. Josh Robenstone

The business opted to delay an IPO and do another private capital raising last year, banking $458 million at a $2.75 billion valuation, but laid out plans for a 2023 IPO.

Despite the drastic tech market correction in 2022, Buchanan and Rokt’s major backer, TDM Growth Partners, have stuck to their guns and are readying the business for its 2023 debut.

For the company’s mega raising last year, Rokt did not have any advisors, choosing to engage directly with the crossover funds instead.

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Investment banks which scored the most tech deals in the US last year included obvious names like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - who were joint lead book-running managers for Atlassian’s float - as well as San Francisco-based boutique Qatalyst Partners. The name Qatalyst may be familiar to Street Talk readers, having been one of the advisors in Afterpay’s camp last year.

As well as interviewing prospective joint lead managers, this column understands Buchanan is recruiting key hires for the business ahead of the float, looking for a CFO, as well as people for a handful of public market roles.

Even if market conditions stay the same in 2023, there’s little risk that Rokt will decide to pull the pin and delay the listing.

“I prefer to list in a market that’s really bad and investors will have lower expectations on forward outcomes, than what would be at the frothy peak of the market at November last year,” Buchanan said earlier this year.

Yolanda Redrup is the co-editor of the AFR Rich List. She previously reported on technology, healthcare and Street Talk. Connect with Yolanda on Twitter. Email Yolanda at yolanda.redrup@afr.com
Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com
Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au
Anthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies. Connect with Anthony on Twitter. Email Anthony at a.macdonald@afr.com

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