Episode 123 · 2022-02-27 · 48:34 · Original in Finnish
IPOs, Mergers and Board Work | Petri Niemi | Negotiator 123
Originally published as “Hallitustyö IPO & fuusio | Petri Niemi | Neuvottelija 123”
Petri Niemi has run seven listings and chaired the boards of most of those companies. He opens up why Siili Solutions was the case that opened Finland's First North, how Bilot dared to list in March 2020 into the teeth of the Covid crash, and what an anchor investor's thumbs-up actually buys. The conversation moves on to the Bilot–Vincit merger, still awaiting shareholder approval at the time of recording, and to why listing is worth it at all: owners in different cycles, a liquid share as acquisition currency, easier banking. It closes on the most common trap in software consultancies — products built by consultants on the bench — the one rule of board work, and the company he is proudest of.
Core theses
- The anchor investor's value is the signal, not the money: the offering is decided by who has already said yes.
- A listed share is acquisition currency, which is the argument for listing that survives when the fundraising argument does not.
- Products built by consultants between assignments almost never become products, and it is the most repeated mistake in the sector.
- The one rule of board work: the chair runs the board and the chief executive runs the company, and most board dysfunction is that line being crossed.
Watch and listen
Key moments
- 00:00 — Petri Niemi: from CapMan to free radical
- 02:22 — Siili Solutions opened the First North market
- 04:29 — A small offering and five acquisitions paid in shares
- 05:12 — Detection Technology and the Chinese factory
- 07:05 — Vincit, the listing, and the share as a way of committing people
- 08:28 — Bilot's IPO in the middle of the Covid crash
- 10:34 — The anchor investors saved the offering
- 12:53 — First North must not turn into crowdfunding
- 14:24 — What Bilot actually does around SAP
- 15:34 — Motley, and service design as the cherry on top
- 17:01 — The Bilot–Vincit merger by share exchange
- 19:12 — A share exchange against a cash offer
- 20:16 — Synergies: an agile house meets large corporates
- 23:06 — Next Games and IP-based games
- 24:08 — Lounea, Finland's fastest builder of fibre
- 27:07 — Reselling Visma, and business services
- 28:09 — Loihde's technical listing, and why it limps
- 29:35 — When it would be worth Lounea listing
- 31:27 — Seven IPOs: when listing is the right path
- 33:30 — LeadDesk, an orthodox SaaS company
- 34:44 — Clausion and the move off the licence model, with its SaaS trough
- 36:34 — The myth of a consultancy's little products
- 38:54 — How a board is built before a listing
- 42:44 — The chair runs the board, the chief executive runs the company
- 46:19 — ICEYE, the satellite company Niemi is proudest of
Summary
Petri Niemi has run seven listings and chaired the boards of most of those companies. He opens up why Siili Solutions was the case that opened Finland’s First North, how Bilot dared to list in March 2020 into the teeth of the Covid crash, and what an anchor investor’s thumbs-up actually buys. The conversation moves on to the Bilot–Vincit merger, still awaiting shareholder approval at the time of recording, and to why listing is worth it at all: owners in different cycles, a liquid share as acquisition currency, easier banking. It closes on the most common trap in software consultancies — products built by consultants on the bench — the one rule of board work, and the company he is proudest of.
What an anchor actually buys
Not the capital. The anchor investor’s commitment is a signal to everyone deciding afterwards, and in Bilot’s case — a listing that went out days into the Covid crash — that signal is what kept the offering alive. Niemi is clear that the money could have come from anywhere and the endorsement could not.
The argument for listing that survives
Raising money is the reason usually given and the weakest one, since private capital is available. The durable arguments are a share that can be used to buy companies, an ownership base whose members are on different cycles, and a bank that treats a listed borrower differently.
Products from the bench
The most common trap in software consultancy: consultants between assignments are put to building a product, which therefore gets the hours nobody is paying for and stops whenever billable work appears. It never ships, and the sector repeats it constantly.
Watch
The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: Hallitustyö IPO & fuusio | Petri Niemi | Neuvottelija 123. A Finnish edition of this episode is published at www.neuvottelija.fi.
In depth
The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form write-up of this episode: English · suomeksi.
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People and topics
Guests: Petri Niemi
Topics: M&A & Exits SaaS & Software Ownership, Capital & Tax