The interest in Australian tech companies doesn’t look like it will slow down any time soon, with reports today billionaire James Packer is now looking at investing $40 million in daily deals and group buying company Catch of the Day, valuing it at $200 million.
The rumour, published by the Australian Financial Review, comes just weeks after Packer-backed firm Ellerston Capital invested in online department store Deals Direct, reportedly purchasing a third of the business for $10 million.
An announcement is expected within days.
If the deal goes ahead, it would value Catch of the Day at $200 million and would match the investment Yahoo!7 poured into group buying site Spreets earlier this year.
Catch of the Day’s Gabby Leibovich declined to comment when contacted by SmartCompany this morning.
Catch, which was founded in 2006 by Gabby and his brother Hezi and featured in the 2009 Smart50 awards, is currently turning over about $100 million, although Leibovich has not revealed how much profit the company is making. It is one of Australia’s largest online retailers and sells thousands of goods every day.
Last year it expanded through opening Scoopon, one of the first group buying sites. It is now one of the largest and accounts for much of the industry’s revenue, gaining notoriety as a result – the Scoopon iPhone app has been featured in an official Apple advertisement.
But Packer’s investment would come during a tumultuous period for the company. Catch of the Day is currently wrapped up in a legal battle against group buying giant Groupon, which claims the Australian company has misled users after it registered the Groupon trademark and Groupon.com.au domain.
However, the move is also timely – Telsyte analyst Sam Yip told SmartCompany recently he believed Scoopon would be a target for acquirers.
“I think that acquisition is still on the books, especially as Groupon and Scoopon are facing off in a court battle together. We’re at the point now where winning small players won’t get you to number one, and Scoopon seems to be the last target,” he said.
The rumoured move also comes after a number of Australian tech companies have attracted significant investment interest from overseas. Within the past year Silicon Valley firm Accel Partners has invested in Atlassian, OzForex and 99Designs, while this past week Electronic Arts purchased Melbourne game studio Firemint.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
