Lightspeed is in the early stages of a strategic review and there are no assurances the company will be sold, the source said. Lightspeed offices are seen in Montreal, on Jan. 18.is officially up for sale, the latest in a series of Canadian tech companies to consider going private following a stock market slump after pandemic restrictions were lifted.
On Wednesday, Lightspeed’s Toronto Stock Exchange-listed shares jumped and closed up by 13 per cent on news of a possible takeover. The company’s market capitalization is $3.2-billion. Lightspeed sells transaction software to retailers, restaurants, golf courses and hotels. But the company believes it can grow its business overall by serving the more complex needs of larger clients. The pace and progress of that shift and Lightspeed’s commitment to pursuing higher growth has spooked investors at times in recent years and prompted Mr. Chauvet’s exit early this year.
“We’ve seen this play out before. It’s a cyclical dynamic,” said Mr. Moschopoulos. “We fluctuate between markets that are conducive to IPOs and markets that are more challenging, and when valuations are depressed, that in turn leads to privatization behaviour, prompting companies to put themselves up for sale.”