Australian Securities Exchange-listed RPMGlobal’s share price rose 8% Monday on news it was selling its circa-A$40 million-a-year mining consulting business to focus on technology.
UK-based SLR Consulting is paying A$63 million for the RPMGlobal advisory arm, with the deal expected to be concluded next quarter.
It will leave RPMGlobal with a c$80 million war chest if it wants to pursue further acquisitions in the mining software arena, though it has preferred share buybacks since mid-2022. It spent $6.9m buying its own shares in the first six months of FY2025 and the buyback total is now more than $35m since 2022.
The divestment for RPMGlobal comes at a time when privately-owned Australian mining software company Micromine is reportedly the focus of competing $1 billion bids after a previous $900 million-plus sale involving US-based Aspen Technology fell through. Maptek is another private Australian mining software company that could fetch $1 billion or more in a sale.
RPMGlobal’s mining software revenues were about $75 million in FY24, lower than those of Maptek and Micromine. FY25 first-half software revenues were $37.7m versus $35.3 million for the same period last year. The business is growing strongly in the US, similar to Micromine’s recent expansion in that market.
RPMGlobal has a current market value of about $630 million.
