US firm Aura to buy Australia's Qoria in $675 million deal, relist on ASX

By Rajasik Mukherjee Feb 2 (Reuters) – Australia-listed Qoria said on Monday that U.S.-based Aura Consolidated Group would acquire the tech firm at an implied valuation of A$972 million ($675.64 million), and then relist the merged entity on the Australian stock exchange. Under the proposed offer, Aura will acquire all of Qoria at an implied price of A$0.72 per share, more than double the stock's last close. Qoria has a market capitalization of A$453.7 million, as per LSEG data. "The stock has been under pressure in 2026 which makes the premium appear much larger than where the stock was trading last year," said Omkar Joshi, founder and chief investment officer at Opal Capital Management. The stock has fallen over 40% so far this year. After the deal is completed, Qoria would become a unit of the Boston-headquartered Aura and the newly combined entity would trade on the Australian stock exchange with the ticker symbol AXQ. Qoria's board has recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the deal. The combined group will be valued at A$3 billion before any external funding, the companies said. "The combined business will be of significant scale and diversified," said Ron Shamgar, head of Australian equities at TAMIM Asset Management. "Most likely headed to ASX100 inclusion in time." Qoria, formerly known as Family Zone, provides cyber security solutions for schools and families. Its platform is being used by 32,000 schools, supporting 9 million parents, its website said. Aura is a provider of online safety solutions to individuals and families. Should the merger go through, the combination would create an online security platform for home, work, and school. As part of the transaction, Qoria plans to raise $75 million at an expected price of A$12.38 per AXQ share. In 2024, Qoria knocked down a $307 million takeover offer from venture capital K1 Investment Management LLC, saying that the offer undervalued the firm. ($1 = 1.4386 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Rajasik Mukherjee; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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