WASHINGTON, March 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FiscalNote
Holdings Inc. ("FiscalNote"), a leading technology provider of
global policy and market intelligence, today
announces preliminary financial results for the fourth quarter
and full year ended December 31,
2021, which beat prior estimates and demonstrate the
company's continued successful execution of its strategic growth
plan and a strong, sustained growth outlook.
"I am incredibly pleased to announce a robust quarter and full
year of performance for FiscalNote. The company exceeded run-rate
revenue expectations for FY2021. Our investments in new,
high-growth lines of business, such as ESG and geopolitical
information, amidst increasing demand from customers are driving an
acceleration of our organic growth rates to support our outlook for
sustained growth," said FiscalNote CEO & Co-founder,
Tim Hwang. "We are excited to bring
the merger with Duddell Street to fruition and become a
publicly-traded company. Our proposed business combination offers a
unique and differentiated structure, driven by a backstop of the
trust, and affords remarkable growth opportunities for the future
of the company. "
FiscalNote's run-rate revenue at December
31, 20211 rose 69% from 2020 to
$109 million, exceeding its
$108 million estimate, while the
organic run-rate revenue2 rose 12% for the
year. Q4 2021 quarterly net revenue retention rate was 98.2%,
rising 0.9% from Q4 2020.
Given the strong performance, FiscalNote reaffirms its previous
run-rate revenue guidance of $173
million for 2022, a 58% increase over 2021. FiscalNote's
organic revenue growth is expected to increase to approximately 25%
to 30% by the end of 2022, driven in part by new sales, continued
improvements in retention rates, and expanded upsell/cross-sell
across the company's suite of products, including the nine
acquisitions completed in 2021. FiscalNote also continues to
forecast achieving positive adjusted EBITDA within
2023.
In addition, FiscalNote's organic growth in 2021 and outlook for
2022 is bolstered by its continued and successful track record in
identifying and acquiring a disciplined set of bolt-on growth
products to its robust portfolio, thus reasserting and expanding
its leadership across key sectors of the marketplace. Key
highlights include:
- The acquisition of Equilibrium equips the company to
address the growing importance of providing actionable solutions in
the ESG domain through its ESG360 AI software, which helps global
enterprises with climate management, ESG reporting and benchmarking
in an all-in-one solution.
- Our fourth quarter acquisition of FrontierView, a global
geopolitical and macroeconomic market intelligence and advisory
firm, combined with our previous acquisition of Oxford Analytica,
creates a powerhouse of intelligence and insights at a critical
time for our customers in an ever-changing world.
- FiscalNote's agreement to acquire rapidly-expanding,
Seoul-based Aicel strengthens the
company's Data-as-a-Service offerings, thus extending our
alternative data solutions expertise for customers in the emerging
fintech space.
- Additionally, in a year when redistricting, civic engagement,
and elections are front-and-center, FiscalNote has made timely
investments in new products and services for the expanding SLED
(State, Local, & Education) public sector marketplace - through
companies acquired in 2021 - by launching Fireside State and Curate
Local to help customers better understand the increasing impact of
local and state government policymaking on their operations.
As a whole, these acquisitions have enabled extension of
FiscalNote's total addressable market into diversified, high-growth
industries, increased sales capacity to new regions like APAC and
EU, and provided replicable cross-sell and upsell strategies that
will serve as a cornerstone for future organic growth.
"FiscalNote is excited to enter 2022 with an opportunity to
leverage its growing scale and market leadership to offer policy
and political intelligence during these volatile and uncertain
times, when customers are relying on us for more information on
world events than ever before," said Josh
Resnik, President and Chief Operating Officer of FiscalNote.
"We have increased investments in high-growth business lines which
are translating into accelerating organic growth. With our stable,
recurring revenue of approximately 90%, adjusted gross profit
margin profile in the 80% range, and an expanding product portfolio
and total addressable market to cross-sell more products into our
growing customer base, we are entering an exciting new phase of
growth for the company."
"FiscalNote's strong performance in 2021 supports our continued
confidence in management's projections of broad and sustained
growth," said Manoj Jain, CEO of
Duddell Street Acquisition Corp., and Co-Chief Investment Officer
of Maso Capital. "We look forward to seeing the company continue to
execute its growth plan alongside its clear path to profitability
with its strengthened balance sheet as a publicly-traded
company. In a world increasingly reliant on data,
aggregation, and analytical insights, coupled with the
outperformance demonstrated and conservative nature of management,
we believe FiscalNote is positioned favorably with peers across
information services and vertical software. We are excited by the
level of engagement the company has with a number of accretive
targets and look forward to the merger closing soon."
Transaction Details
FiscalNote
previously announced plans to become a publicly-traded
company on November 8, 2021 through a
business combination with Duddell Street Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:
DSAC), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company.
Completion of the proposed business combination is subject to
Duddell Street's registration statement on Form S-4 being declared
effective by the Securities & Exchange Commission ("SEC"), the
approval of the proposed business combination by Duddell Street's
shareholders, and other customary closing conditions. Duddell
Street's Class A ordinary shares are currently traded on Nasdaq
under the symbol "DSAC." Upon completion of the proposed business
combination, FiscalNote's Class A common stock is expected to be
publicly listed under the ticker symbol "NOTE."
The SEC is continuing the regulatory review process for the
registration statement. Once completed, the parties will seek
required shareholder approvals and proceed to close the proposed
business combination, with an anticipated target closing date in Q2
of this year.
CEO Presentation
A pre-recorded webcast, led by
FiscalNote's Tim Hwang, will be
posted at 9:00 a.m. ET, Thursday, March 10, 2022 to provide an additional
overview of FiscalNote's preliminary results for the fourth quarter
and fiscal year ended December 31,
2021 and 2022 financial outlook. The recording will be
available at https://fiscalnote.com/press-room.
About FiscalNote
FiscalNote is a leading global
technology provider of legal and policy data and insights. By
combining AI capabilities, expert analysis, and legislative,
regulatory, and geopolitical data, FiscalNote is reinventing the
way that organizations minimize risk and capitalize on opportunity.
Home to CQ, Roll Call, Oxford Analytica, and VoterVoice, FiscalNote
empowers clients worldwide to monitor, manage, and act on the
issues that matter most to them. To learn more about FiscalNote and
its family of brands, visit FiscalNote.com and follow
@FiscalNote.
About Duddell Street Acquisition Corp.
Duddell Street
Acquisition Corp. was formed for the purpose of effecting a
merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase,
reorganization or similar business combination with one or more
businesses. Duddell Street is sponsored by Hong Kong-based hedge fund Maso Capital. Since
inception, Maso Capital has invested in more than one thousand
companies and situations across multiple sectors and geographies.
Leveraging its stature and reputation in Hong Kong and its experienced investment team,
Maso Capital has had investments in a number of TMT, healthcare,
fintech and consumer companies in the region. For more information,
please visit DSAC.co.
Contacts:
Media
FiscalNote
Nicholas Graham
press@fiscalnote.com
Investors
ICR, Inc. for FiscalNote
Sean Hannan
IR@fiscalnote.com
Duddell Street Acquisition Corp.
Sam Joshi
IR@masocapital.com
Additional Information and Where to Find It
In
connection with its proposed business combination with FiscalNote
Holdings, Inc. ("FiscalNote"), Duddell Street Acquisition Corp.
(Nasdaq: DSAC) ("Duddell Street") has filed relevant materials with
the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including a
registration statement on Form S-4, which includes a proxy
statement/prospectus of Duddell Street, and will file other
documents regarding the proposed business combination with the SEC.
Duddell Street's shareholders and other interested persons are
advised to read the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus and the
amendments thereto and, when available, the definitive proxy
statement and documents incorporated by reference therein filed in
connection with the proposed business combination, as these
materials will contain important information about FiscalNote,
Duddell Street and the proposed business combination. Promptly
after the Form S-4 is declared effective by the SEC, Duddell Street
will mail the definitive proxy statement/prospectus and a proxy
card to each shareholder entitled to vote at the meeting relating
to the approval of the business combination and other proposals set
forth in the proxy statement/prospectus. Before making any voting
or investment decision, investors and shareholders of Duddell
Street are urged to carefully read the entire registration
statement and proxy statement/prospectus, when they become
available, and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as
well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, because
they will contain important information about the proposed business
combination. The documents filed by Duddell Street with the SEC may
be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation
of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities
in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would
be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the
securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Participants in the Solicitation
Duddell Street and
its directors and executive officers may be deemed participants in
the solicitation of proxies from its shareholders with respect to
the business combination. A list of the names of those directors
and executive officers and a description of their interests in
Duddell Street will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus
for the proposed business combination when available
at www.sec.gov. Information about Duddell Street's directors
and executive officers and their ownership of Duddell Street shares
is set forth in Duddell Street's prospectus, dated October 28, 2020. Other information regarding the
interests of the participants in the proxy solicitation will be
included in the proxy statement/prospectus pertaining to the
proposed business combination when it becomes available. These
documents can be obtained free of charge from the source indicated
above.
FiscalNote and its directors and executive officers may also be
deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the
shareholders of Duddell Street in connection with the proposed
business combination. A list of the names of such directors and
executive officers and information regarding their interests in the
proposed business combination will be included in the proxy
statement/prospectus for the proposed business combination.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This communication contains "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited
to, statements about future financial and operating results, plans,
objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future
operations, products and services; and other statements identified
by words such as "will," "are expected to," "is anticipated,"
"estimated," "believe," "intend," "plan," "projection," "pro
forma," "outlook" or words of similar meaning. These
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding FiscalNote's industry and market sizes, future
opportunities for FiscalNote and Duddell Street, FiscalNote's
estimated future results and the proposed business combination
between Duddell Street and FiscalNote, including pro forma market
capitalization, pro forma revenue, the expected transaction and
ownership structure and the likelihood, timing and ability of the
parties to successfully consummate the proposed transaction. Such
forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and
expectations of Duddell Street's and FiscalNote's management and
are inherently subject to significant business, economic and
competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are
difficult to predict and generally beyond Duddell Street's or
FiscalNote's control. Actual results and the timing of events may
differ materially from the results anticipated in these
forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Duddell
Street and FiscalNote do not undertake any obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
1 Run-rate revenue is defined as the
annualized subscription revenue at the period end plus the last
twelve months non-subscription revenue.
2 Excludes acquisitions made in 2021.
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SOURCE FiscalNote