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NZX rules enforcer NZ RegCo has applied a trading halt on Being AI to enable discussions about the sale of Being Consultants, announced with the the company’s half-year results late on Friday.
Being AI told shareholders it was returning Being AI Consultants to limited partnership 2384 LP “due to headwinds and increasing strategic focus” in return for cancelling the contingent consideration recognised at the time of acquisition.
A fair value adjustment to the contingent consideration of $32.1 million drove the company to a loss of $35.6 million in the six months to the end of September.
Without that impact, Being AI would have reported a loss of $2.1 million off revenue of $21.4 million. In the year to the end of September 2023, Being AI reported revenue of $19.8 million and a profit of $1.1 million.
Being AI said the loss recorded for the period did not reflect its trading position, but was required by international financial reporting standards and would be reversed in the second six months of the year.
As AI infrastructure was becoming increasingly competitive and commoditised, Being AI was looking to the value creation of platforms and applications, it told shareholders.
“Our first six months as a company have focused on protocol and application layer development in two AI verticals -international tourism and education,” the company said.
The company’s Project Treehouse targeted the first through the creation of autonomous agents which would transact on behalf of their human counterparts to transform tourism aggregator marketplaces and providing operators with the technology to optimise traveller engagement and resources.
In education, the “agentic” strategy was building on Being AI’s Fingerprint and Blueprint technologies to empower learners and teachers in an open network that allows each student to “learn what they need, in the way that works best for them”.
Being AI has also reconstituted its board to better reflect its strategy with Sean Joyce, Roger Gower and Joe Jensen departing and Andy Higgs and Brett O’Riley joining.
Higgs is also the company’s new independent chair and O’Riley the independent chair of the audit committee.
“Driven by the purpose of empowerment, our company focus underscores the growing global demand for innovative agentic technologies that simplify and enrich everyday experiences,” said Being AI CEO David McDonald.